Female Athletes Score Big in Fall Season
Three Athletes Sign to Play in College Preschoolers Sweet on Honeybees Homecoming and Harvest Festival Delight Community Students Sojourn to Shakespeare Festival W I N T E R 2 015
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About Harker
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rom its early beginnings in 1893 — when Stanford University leaders assisted in its establishment — to
its reputation today as a leading pre-
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t was a stellar fall season for female athletes at Harker! On the cover is Niki Iyer, grade 11, who took second at the Central Coast Section (CCS) cross country championships and fifth at the state level. Golfer
Katherine Zhu, grade 10, finished third in CCS championships and tied for
paratory school with graduates attending prestigious universities worldwide,
28th at the NorCal finals. Our girls varsity volleyball team spiked their way
Harker’s mission has remained constant:
to the CCS semifinals, and our doubles tennis team of Lizzie Schick, grade
to create an environment that promotes
10, and Pam Duke, grade 9, was Harker’s first doubles team to make CCS
academic excellence, inspires intellec-
finals, taking second place. Catch up on all fall sports on page 21!
tual curiosity, expects personal account-
Photo by Stefan Armijo.
ability and forever instills a genuine passion for learning. Whether striving for academic achievement, raising funds for global concerns, performing on stage or scoring a goal, Harker students encourage and support one another and celebrate each other’s efforts and successes, at Harker and beyond. Harker is a dynamic, supportive, fun and nurturing community where kids and their families make friends for life.
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en is the magic number for Harker’s journalism department! Students recently received 10 Gold Circle Awards from the prestigious Columbia Scholastic Press Association, which also named the Winged Post newspaper a finalist for the Crown Award (winners announced in March).
The awards honored the students’ work in categories as varied as feature writing, illustration, typography, digital media and photo layout. For a complete list of the awards, see news.harker.org and search for “Columbia.” “It is fulfilling to see so many of our students recognized for pursuing an activity, at a high level, that is of such great interest to them!” said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. The Office of Communication earned two platinum and one gold award in the international 2015 MarCom Awards competition. Platinum awards went to our just-launched website and Harker Quarterly. Harker’s Guide to Philanthropy, produced in conjunction with the school’s advancement department, earned a gold award. There were more than 6,500 entries from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers throughout the United States, Canada and 15 other countries. Harker publications, websites, videos and campaigns have earned more than a score of awards from MarCom Awards, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and AVA Awards (digital communication) over the years.
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Pam Dickinson Director William Cracraft Editor Catherine Snider Jenn Maragoni Copy Editors
Greg Achten Jenny Alme Stefan Armijo Kyle Cavallaro Debbie Cohen Nicole DeVelbiss Zach Jones Mark Kocina Theresa Smith Contributors
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NEXT EDITION: MARCH 2016
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14 WINTER 2015
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features
Faculty Grant Expands Teachers’ Professional Horizons
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Night on the Town Gala Coming to Levi’s Stadium 11
Preschoolers Sweet on Honeybees
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Bus and Shuttle System Enters New Era
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Three Athletes Sign to Play in College 24
Homecoming Draws Great Crowd on Beautiful Evening 26
Students Make Sojourn to Shakespeare Festival 28
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Harvest Festival Showcases Performers, Delights Community 36
departments Headlines 4
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12 Performing Arts 18 Eagle Report 21 Greater Good 31 Harker Concert Series 32 Passages 33 Milestones 33 Global Education
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Business and Entrepreneurship 34 Debate 38
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Advancement 40 Alumni News
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By Christopher Nikoloff Head of School
Science and Humanities: A Match Made in Heaven
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n conversations with alumni, I sometimes hear the following: “I was surprised to learn in college that I was not just a humanities person” or “I discovered in college that I was not just a science/math person.” One alumnus told me that math wasn’t his strong subject in school. He is now a world champion poker
player using math, logic, psychology and game theory all at the same time. I am grateful that alumni are making these discoveries at some point in their careers, but I wish that the divorce between science and math on the one hand and the humanities on the other didn’t happen in the first place. We need a movement to send them into marriage counseling, because they are a match made in heaven. The original liberal arts, going back to the Middle Ages, were sevenfold: the “trivium,” composed of logic, grammar and rhetoric; and the “quadrivium,” composed of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. According to Sister Miriam Joseph in her 1937 book “The Trivium,” the subjects of the quadrivium were no light matter, despite their deceptively simple titles. Arithmetic
“Arithmetic is not just two plus two – it is number theory itself. Music is not just Bach – it is the application of that number theory. Geometry is not just triangles – it is the study of space. Astronomy is the application of that study of space.”
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is not just two plus two – it is number theory itself. Music is not just Bach – it is the application of that number theory. Geometry is not just triangles – it is the study of space. Astronomy is the application of that study of space. The former two disciplines deal in discrete quantities; the latter two in continuous quantities. Like Joseph said, no light matter. It appears then, that the scholars of the Middle Ages had it all – language, math, science, music – in one simple, powerful package called the liberal arts. These arts were called liberal because they represented the
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education that befitted a free (hence the word liberal) person, and were intended to cultivate a free mind. They were to be the quintessential education of a human, hence their Latin equivalent in the word humanities. I was talking with a theoretical physicist recently who said at some point theoretical physics becomes indistinguishable from philosophy. An entrepreneur told me that he was interested in artificial intelligence for his next venture and that the field stirred questions of the theory of self and ethics. Recently Stanford announced a new joint major (not double major) called CS + X, meaning computer science plus a field in the humanities. It seems they understand how powerful and necessary this combination is. It is my wish, therefore, that students graduate with both a deep expertise in a subject or two and an empathetic fluency across all subjects. A graduate like this is better than the beloved “well-rounded” student of the past. This new graduate is both wellrounded and deep – what colleges are calling the “well-lopsided” student. Students may a
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be surprised to learn about themselves that they are more “well-lopsided than they thought.” They also may be surprised to learn how much all disciplines were valued in the past and will be valued in the future.
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RAJU AND BALA VEGESNA FOUNDATION
“Through the generosity of the Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation, we have been given a wonderful opportunity to support unique and transformational professional development opportunities for faculty members each year.” – Jennifer Gargano, Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs
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or some time the Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation has generously supported various professional development activities for Harker faculty members, including the summer technology grant program, faculty retreat, Harker Teacher Institute and guest lectures from top experts in the field of education.
More recently, the grant has supported a unique opportunity called the Teacher Excellence Program, which will build on Harker’s already robust learning programs for faculty members. The innovative program began this past summer and fall, marking a special time of enhanced learning and professional development for 14 faculty members. And, although their experiences differed, the teachers all shared a desire to bring back to their classrooms invaluable knowledge gleaned from their undertakings. Individual grant recipients were upper school teachers Ruth Meyer (humanities/history), who served as a panel facilitator at a Yale University Conference; Susan Nace (performing arts), who attended a 10-day conducting symposium at Oxford University; and Roxana Pianko (humanities/history), who studied the Holocaust and traveled throughout Europe visiting related historical sites. Group grants recipients were seven English teachers in grades 2-8, who participated in an internship program at Nancie Atwell’s Center for Teaching and Learning in Maine: Mary Holaday, grade 2; Heather Russell, grade 3; Kate Molin, grade 4; Kate Shanahan, grade 5; Ann Smitherman, grade 5; Patricia Lai Burrows, grade 6; and Stacie Wallace, grade 8. In addition, W I N T E R 2 015
Photo provided by Ruth Meyer
Photo by Mark Kocina
Photo by Mark Kocina
By Debbie Cohen
Supports Enhanced Learning for Teachers
VEGESNA FOUNDATION
“The conference far exceeded my expectations! It will forever change the way in which I teach math. Greg advises that students must see that math makes sense. If it does not make sense, it is essential to rethink the methods and modalities we are using.” —Colleen Lindsey, lower school math teacher
RUTH MEYER
Presenting at Yale University Photo provided by Ruth Meyer
four primary math teachers participated in a Greg Tang Math workshop and conference in Missouri: Holaday; Grace Wallace, grade 2; Colleen Lindsay, grade 3; and Sejal Mehta, grade 2. “The Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation seeks to partner with best-in-breed enterprises and The Harker School certainly fits that description,” said Richard McCoy, director of the foundation. “One of Harker’s strengths is its worldclass faculty, and we are pleased to be able to help support those great teachers through the Teacher Excellence Program that we have established.”
Photo provided by Kate Shanahan
The gift from the Vegesnas (parents of Ramanand and Srivani, both grade 8)
enabled Harker to support various new opportunities, explained Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement. “The mission of the teacher program is to enhance and further teachers’ abilities in a manner that has a direct and demonstrable impact on student learning,” he said. “Harker firmly believes that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement,” added Rosenthal. “Ongoing professional development is crucial in that it keeps teachers up-to-date on new research on how children learn, emerging technology tools for the classroom, new curriculum resources, and much more.” What follows is a more in-depth look at the educational opportunities made possible by the Teacher Excellence Program.
Meyer presented and served as a panel facilitator at Yale University’s annual “Psyche, Spirit, and Science: Negotiating Contemporary, Social, and Cultural Concerns” conference. She presented her curriculum, ideas and pedagogical techniques to like-minded scholars and got feedback from them during the gathering, held July 9-12. “The Vegesna grant enabled me to visit an international conference of Jungian analysts and scholars,” said Meyer. “I presented a paper on ‘Memes, Teens, Dreams and Mandalas’ that showcased my work with the senior elective class I teach at Harker (Western Political Thought). I made a short film with my students talking about their special connections to dreams and philosophy. We filmed just outside my classroom and students talked about the memes that they had created as part of a research project into individual philosophers. We called the project The Meme Wall,” recalled Meyer. Jungian scholars and analysts mostly work on an individual basis with adults so there was a lot of interest in seeing teens talking about imagination and dreams, she noted. “I was also asked to chair two panels (Education and Democracy, and Female Iconography),” said Meyer. “This was a first for me and a very important experience. It meant that I was responsible for introducing three professional speakers on each panel and then guiding a 20-minute discussion afterward. Another big plus was being asked
to write a book about education and Jungian scholarship. I’m working on it now and plan to dedicate it to the Harker community!” said Meyer.
SUSAN NACE
Honing Conducting Skills at Oxford University Nace attended a 10-day symposium in July at the Choral Conducting Institute at St. Stephen’s House, a college of Oxford University. The institute gave conductors the opportunity to hone their skills, working with James Jordan and the Westminster Williamson Voices, and James Whitbourn, a fellow of St. Stephen’s. The intensive daily program included master classes, seminars by eminent scholars, private tutoring, rehearsals and singing Compline at the end of the day. The institute ended with a concert conducted by attendees. Highlights of the institute included lectures by esteemed conductors Edward Higginbottom and Stephen Darlington; singing at Sunday Mass at Christ Church Cathedral; observing rehearsals of the Christ Church Cathedral choir; inspecting centuries-old manuscripts at the Bodleian Library; and conducting music under the tutelage of the composer. “As music teachers, we often do not get the opportunity for intensive study with deep internal reflection on and engagement with the music we conduct,” Nace said. “Working closely with professional singers on choral masterworks ... afforded us an opportunity to focus solely on our conducting technique to become better communicators with those we do conduct.” Nace, who directs Cantilena, Camerata and Acoustics, added that “to receive affirmation from scholars, mentors and peers is a rejuvenating and heartening experience that teachers need but often do not receive. This experience has not only given me new perspectives on conducting but also encouragement that I am a very capable conductor and teacher as well as a mentor to other musicians.”
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VEGESNA FOUNDATION
“To receive affirmation from scholars, mentors and peers is a rejuvenating and heartening experience that teachers need but often do not receive. This experience has not only given me new perspectives on conducting but also encouragement that I am a very capable conductor and teacher as well as a mentor to other musicians.” –Susan Nace, upper school performing arts teacher and choral director
ROXANA PIANKO
here in California, and another will be a two-week Holocaust study tour to Europe that will be introduced in the summer of 2017,” she said. “Additionally I am working with the History Club on a project for April for Holocaust Remembrance Day that we are hoping will reach not only our wonderful Harker community, but will draw in the surrounding community as well.
Learning Lessons from Holocaust Exploration
“We cannot wait to bring these things to our young any longer, because the world is changing and we have to make sure it changes for the better now,” said Pianko.
Photos provided by Roxana Pianko
Group Internship with Renowned Educator Inspires Harker English Teachers
Last June, Pianko traveled to Los Angeles to attend an in-depth, weeklong class on the Holocaust, run by a nonprofit organization called Facing History and Ourselves. The international educational and professional development organization’s mission is to examine prejudice and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives, explained Pianko. After the class she took a solo trip throughout Europe visiting various sites related to the Holocaust and interacting with those affected by it. Pianko enriched her experience with travel to Krakow, Auschwitz, Lublin, Warsaw and Berlin to study, visit camps and museums, and interview
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survivors. Pianko said she plans to use the Holocaust to discuss diversity and empathy and expand various lessons she teaches in World History. “The class I took was Holocaust and Human Behavior,” said Pianko. “We looked at how history is shaped by hatred, indifference and denial, as well as by caring, compassion and responsibility. Together we examined the range of choices that led to the failure of democracy in Germany and ultimately to the persecution of millions of Jews and other targeted groups. We investigated the complexities of human behavior, judgment and memory, and explored how we as individuals and members of groups can make a difference in the world today,” she added. After returning to Harker, Pianko implemented Holocaust units in all of her classes. She is also working on planning two trips. “One will be to Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp
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The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) is a K-8 independent demonstration school in Maine created for the purpose of developing and disseminating effective classroom practices. The school was founded in 1990 by renowned educator Nancie Atwell who, in 2015, was awarded the first Global Teacher Prize, a $1 million award presented by the Varkey Foundation, which is associated with the Clinton Global Initiative. The school is known nationally for its award-winning teaching, researchbased methods, relationships of trust between faculty and parents, respect for children, and programs that engage students and prepare them for life beyond CTL. Seven English teachers from grades 2-8 attended CTL, where they interned from Oct. 5-9. While there they worked directly with Atwell, learning perspectives on the art of teaching, as well as how to write and read critically. The internship program is structured to give visiting teachers the skills to make substantive changes in their classrooms. Of her experience at CTL with her colleagues, Heather Russell said, “We have continued our collaboration and have made changes and improvements to student learning since we returned.
VEGESNA FOUNDATION
“I believe that by attending this conference, we have been able to develop more effective lessons by offering opportunities for students to explore, structure and document how a problem is completed,” said Mary Holaday, the only teacher to attend both this and the CTL conference. She noted that throughout the math workshop there was an emphasis on the importance of students sharing their methods to get to the answer.
Photo provided by Kate Shanahan
I’ve been to professional development opportunities before that enriched my teaching but the kind of collaborative energy and shared experience [at CTL] that has carried forward in our classrooms was powerful.” “I have learned so much by going to the Center for Teaching & Learning!” said Mary Holaday. “I have come back with a wealth of information to apply in my second grade classroom. We have begun to have morning meetings as soon as the students arrive into Language Arts. We share some important information with each other, read a poem together and sing a song. I have begun writing poetry with the students on a weekly basis and doing mini-lessons that discuss different forms of poetry or different strategies used. We have book talks and roundtable discussions about what they have read, focusing on the comprehension skill discussed in class,” she added.
Tang is the author of “Grapes of Math” and “Math for All Seasons,” a series of books that help children gain the range of skills needed for higher math. His books challenge and encourage students to use creativity and common sense to solve problems, rather than merely formulas and memorization.
“The conference far exceeded my expectations!” said Colleen Lindsey. “It will forever change the way in which I teach math. Greg advises that students must see that math makes sense. If it does not make sense, it is essential to rethink the methods and modalities we are using,” she added. According to Grace Wallace, there were many highlights from the conference. Among her top takeaways was that math is a progression – moving from the concrete, to the pictorial, to the abstract. Also, that breakthrough comes from confusion and struggle, and that error is a natural part of the learning process.
Lower School Teachers Attend Lauded Math Conference Several Harker teachers participated in a Greg Tang Math conference, held in Kansas City, Mo., from July 21-23. More than 650 math educators were in attendance.
Photos provided by Mary Holaday
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VEGESNA FOUNDATION
“I have learned so much by going to the Center for Teaching & Learning! I have come back with a wealth of information to apply in my second grade classroom. We have begun to have morning meetings as soon as the students arrive into Language Arts. We share some important information with each other, read a poem together and sing a song.” —Mary Holaday, lower school language arts teacher
Photo provided by Ruth Meyer
Grant Recipients Share Gained Knowledge with Colleagues “All of the current recipients determined ways in which they could meaningfully share their experiences with their colleagues,” said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. “Some have organized workshops for teachers in their disciplines or divisions. This allows a greater range of teachers to benefit from their experience.” Nace and Pianko have shared their experiences during all-faculty meetings. Nace also organized a workshop for fellow vocal teachers, and Pianko and Meyer recently presented what they learned to their departments and have been doing guest lectures in their colleagues’ classes. In October the group that attended the math conference led a workshop for all of the K-5 math teachers, and the contingent that attended CTL presented their findings to the K-8 English teachers on Dec. 2. There will be a formal reception in February where all recipients will give a brief presentation discussing what they did and how they shared their knowledge with both their students and colleagues. “These grants are for special or rare opportunities,” said Gargano. “Harker supports many professional development efforts; however, this grant is for something particularly special that we would normally not be able to fund.” Gargano reported that applications for the next round of grants are now being accepted and are due in early January. “Through the generosity of the Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation, we have been given a wonderful opportunity to support unique and transformational professional development opportunities for faculty members each year,” she said.
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Ongoing Professional Development for All Harker Faculty Members The new Teacher Excellence Program is just one of many professional development opportunities for Harker faculty members that the Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation supports. In fact, teachers from across all four of Harker’s campuses regularly benefit from the generosity of grants awarded by the foundation, which go toward • various learning, innovation and design grants for faculty at the lower, middle and upper schools; • the annual schoolwide faculty retreat, a day of learning and workshops uniting all four campuses; • the Harker Teacher Institute, with Bay Area educators from the public invited to the campus to attend presentations by Harker faculty members; and • specialty in-service guest speakers who present to Harker teachers on topics of educational significance.
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SAVE THE DATE! Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 | Levi’s Stadium TICKETS FOR THE 2016 HARKER GALA NIGHT ON THE TOWN, THEMED “ONE TEAM, ONE DREAM,” GO ON SALE IN JANUARY! Join us at the state-of-the-art Levi’s Stadium United Club for an evening out with friends from the Harker community in an extraordinary location. This will be a great night for a great cause, l
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GlobalEducation 20th Annual Middle School Tamagawa Visit Leaves Students with Cherished Memories By Zach Jones This year marked the 20th anniversary of the middle school visit between Harker and Tamagawa Academy in Tokyo, which has become a pillar of Harker’s global education program. In addition to giving students and faculty the chance to venture abroad and experience another culture, the relationship between the two schools has resulted in many new friendships. “It’s amazing to celebrate the 20th anniversary,” said Tamagawa’s Michiko Horikane, an English teacher who has led the Tamagawa-to-Harker trip 17 times. Each trip yields something new to be discovered, she said, adding that she has always been impressed by the enthusiasm and hospitality of Harker’s students and faculty. “Tamagawa students can learn a lot of things through this exchange,” she added. “They are impressed with the kindness and hospitality, and they can learn how to express themselves and build friendships.” In mid-October, 28 Tamagawa students in grade 5 came for a five-day visit, during which they stayed with Harker sixth graders. They received a very warm welcome, being presented with a Halloween-themed cake commemorating the “20 years of friendship” between the
1992 photo provided by Harker Archives
“When my buddy comes to Japan to visit me in May, I would love to host her with the utmost hospitality.” – Hinano Yajima, visiting Tamagawa student
two schools. Harker students lined up to greet their buddies with handmade signs displaying their buddy’s name written in Japanese. After being matched up with one another, each pair of students took a photo in front of a Halloween-themed backdrop before heading off to a special lunch. The ensuing week was packed with activity, as Tamagawa students and their Harker buddies enjoyed a scavenger hunt, made T-shirts and created origami sculptures. Tamagawa students also headed to the lower school campus to read to a class of Harker’s younger students. Some time was also set aside for the Tamagawa students to meet and interact with Harker’s fifth graders.
2012 photo by Liat Noten ‘05
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of what day-to-day life is like for Harker students. They also participated in a number of classes, including Elizabeth Saltos’ art class and Gail Palmer’s dance class. Tamagawa student Miori Yoneyama remarked on the politeness she experienced from Harker’s teachers and how it made the classroom experience delightful despite the language barrier. “I did not understand the classes in English, but there were a variety of teachers - enthusiastic teachers, and the teacher who showed interesting videos through YouTube,” she recalled via a translation by Harker upper school Japanese teacher Yumiko Aridomi. “All these teachers talked to us nicely.” The Tamagawa guests enjoyed many offcampus outings as well, including a visit to Cucina Bambini, a local children’s cooking school, to learn how to make American cuisine. That same day, the students headed to The Tech Museum, one of Silicon Valley’s popular tourist attractions. After the Tamagawa students returned home, Harker students looked back fondly on the time they had spent with their newfound friends. Kavita Murthy said the visit gave her the opportunity to learn about the greatly varying personalities of the Tamagawa students. She reminisced about the time she spent with her buddy, Sayana, who greatly enjoyed both Japanese and Western cuisines, treating her to “both Japanese and Italian-American restaurants.” She also mentioned being proud to be part of such
GlobalEducation “It made me feel special because it was fun to learn about how they lived and learn more about their traditions,” said Harker student Syna Gogte. “I hope to learn more when I [visit Tamagawa in the spring semester].” Malar Bala was thankful for the opportunity to spend time and bond with someone who spoke a different language. “This Tamagawa visit was a very unique experience,” she said. “It helped me understand how I could still make friends and enjoy my time with someone who doesn’t even speak the same language as me. I felt honored to participate in this exchange. The 20th anniversary is a big deal.”
2013 photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Upon seeing how Harker’s students had developed their time-management skills, Tamagawa student Hinano Yajima said she wished to learn how to manage her time more effectively as well. “I saw people buying snacks at the store and having fun during the recess, but they all went to their classrooms when the bell rang,” she recalled. “I thought that I must be more punctual and draw the line between play time and study time like Harker students.”
Photo by Mark Kocina
Aside from her memorable experiences with Harker teachers, Yoneyama said she also enjoyed visiting the Golden Gate Bridge with her buddy. “I had not walked on such a big bridge,” she said. “I took a lot of pictures in the middle of the bridge, and it became the highlight of my homestay.” She added that she hopes to take her buddy to a similarly interesting Japanese landmark one day.
2005 photo provided by Harker Archives
a momentous anniversary. “I felt special knowing that this exchange has been going on for a while and I had the honor to participate in it. This was a very fun exchange for both buddies!”
amusement park. “When my buddy comes to Japan to visit me in May, I would love to host her with the utmost hospitality,” she said.
Yajima also fondly remembered afterschool activities such as visiting an arcade and an outing to a local
“When we visited Harker for the first time, we brought six boys and six girls,” said Horikane, alluding to how much the program has grown in the past two decades. “Since then, we have been trying to arrange a better program every year.” Be sure to check the Harker News website at news.harker.org for more stories from Harker’s global education department.
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STUDENTS WELCOME BEE EXPERTS, GROW BEE-FRIENDLY GARDEN By Debbie Cohen
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Held on the Union campus in the fall, the hands-on presentation was part of a larger effort sponsored by Whole Foods Market stores throughout Northern California, which partnered with Planet Bee to bring educational workshops to schools and nonprofits. “Change the world, one bee at a time” is the motto of Planet Bee, a self-described “trailblazing nonprofit with a mighty green mission.” The foundation brought its unique program to the preschool, thanks to the grant awarded to Harker’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) specialist, Robyn Stone. “Our preschool students are wild about bees! Over the summer I submitted an application to the Planet Bee Foundation for Harker Preschool to participate in the program, and we were selected as a participating school!” recalled Stone, who is also a science/math instructor for the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension. On Oct. 13, the entire preschool was treated to the bee presentation, which took place in the outdoor amphitheater with fun activities spilling over to the adjacent grassy field. The program included a variety of games as well as an observation of a live beehive (encased in Plexiglas). Each session focused on honeybee biology. “When children have a deeper understanding of how bees help pollinate the plants that make our food, they may become strong stewards of the environment as they grow up,” Stone explained. “I really liked learning all about bees and how honey is made!” enthused Heidi Singh, a 3-year-old student in the preschool’s Acorn Cottage. She and her pals were busy as bees during the presentation, taking in all the activities, becoming increasingly engaged in what they later learned was called melittology (the study of honeybees).
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Photos by Mark Kocina
he students at Harker Preschool have long had a sweet spot for bees. But now they are buzzing with excitement over becoming the first local preschool to receive a grant from the Planet Bee Foundation’s “Humble Honey Bee Project,” which awarded them a daylong workshop.
“If we can create one small corner of the urban planet that promotes the wellness of our little pollinators, then we have achieved our goal.”
Planet Bee Foundation offers on-site, hands-on workshops to schools, nonprofits, local communities, backyard beekeepers and corporations. It also conducts fundraising benefits and offers an Adopt-A-Hive Program.
“These programs are created for deep experiential learning that leaves students inspired. Our Bee —Mike Bassoni, Basics curriculum is in line with the facility manager Common Core Standards and focuses on the honey bee, pollination, colony collapse disorder, and providing tools for students to help make a difference,” said Debra Tomaszewski, the foundation’s co-founder and executive director. Tomaszewski is a former public school teacher, college professor and curriculum writer. Her husband, William Tomaszewski, is the foundation’s co-founder and head beekeeper. He’s kept hives personally for more than 15 years. “Harker Preschool is our youngest audience ever!” enthused Kayla Friedrichsen, program director for the Planet Bee Foundation. She reported that all of the foundation’s lessons consist of an ageappropriate presentation, observation hive for an up-close look at live bees, beekeeping equipment for handling and trying on, honeycomb and wax for students to inspect, and magnified insect boxes or microscopes to check out bees.
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The organization is currently slated to visit 86 schools over the next two years. More than 800 students have already participated in the program so far this year. Friedrichsen shared how impressed she was at the interest the students at Harker Preschool took in learning about bees.
of the STEM lab and replacing them with native perennials. After clearing the garden bed, parent volunteers helped with the planting and the children got in on the action by assisting with sowing seeds. Photo by Eric Marten
She taught the children that a third of every bite they take is made possible by bees and that bees – especially honeybees – are vital pollinators in bringing food to our plates. “But colony collapse disorder and other environmental factors are causing honeybee populations to plummet at an alarming rate; their numbers have declined by the billions since 2006.” In addition to the Planet Bee visit, the students were delighted to welcome another “bee visit,” this time from Harker Preschool parent and amateur beekeeper Darryl Walker (father of 3-year-old Abby, also in Acorn Cottage). “He extended our learning by visiting classes with his beekeeping gear (suit, mask and smoker) to talk about how he collects honey from his backyard hive. He also donated a huge jar of his honey to the STEM lab for all the children to taste!” said Stone. Stone noted that bee study is not just confined to special visits but is a natural part of the students’ school day, thanks to a native species garden that attracts honeybees (as well as a variety of wild indigenous bees, hummingbirds and local insects).
Prior to the preschool’s opening in 2013, Stone and Mike Bassoni, Harker’s facility manager, had discussed pulling out the plants in the garden in front
Photo by Mark Kocina
“By working with the facilities groundskeepers, we’ve eliminated the need for using pesticides to control weeds in our school gardens. We just pull them while we’re outside at play. Being playful and curious go hand-in-hand, making science concepts accessible to young children,” said Stone.
Last spring, the students observed at least five different types of wild bees along with myriad butterflies in the garden. “The children walk through the wildflowers, they make careful observations, Photo provided by Robyn Stone they notice the relationship between flower and animal. And they pretend to be bees, butterflies and hummingbirds,” shared Stone. In addition to attracting native pollinators and providing food for them, the STEM lab’s native garden uses very little water. And, because it attracts insects, the garden also has become home to native birds that feed on the insects. Stone installed a bird watching station outfitted with binoculars so the children are able to observe them. Stone became so inspired by her work on honeybees with the preschool classes that she recently published an article called “Bee Curious” in the summer 2015 issue of Green Teacher, a journal offering perspectives on the role of education in creating a sustainable future. She and her STEM pupils were also featured in a Harker video called “The Buzz on Bees: A Preschool STEM Lesson on Honeybees.” Bassoni reported that he became intrigued with assisting Stone in developing the learning garden once he understood her true passion for providing a firsthand outdoor experience to her students. “Her world of bees, pollen, hummingbirds and caterpillars is extremely important. If we can create one small corner of the urban planet that promotes the wellness of our little pollinators, then we have achieved our goal,” he said. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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By Zach Jones
Bus and Transportation Service Adds New Vehicles and Routes to Ease Harker Commutes
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n response to a growing need, Harker has improved its bus and transportation system over the past couple of years in both the extent of its services and number of vehicles. The school now has a fleet of eight full-size school buses – three of them provided in the last year by annual giving – and has roundtrip routes servicing the Fremont area and the Peninsula, as well as a home-to-school route from the Silver Creek area of San Jose. Additionally, intercampus shuttles now operate every morning and afternoon, with morning shuttles traveling between the preschool, middle and upper school campuses, and afternoon shuttles reaching all four Harker campuses. About 100 students now use these services, an increase of about 20 from 2013. Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs, credits the growing popularity of the service to both word-of-mouth and the stellar drivers. “I attribute the increase in ridership to our own drivers,” he said. “Since they very often run the same routes, the families and the students on those routes become very familiar with them and grow attached to them and appreciate the fact that they’re good, level-headed folks who are patient, safety-conscious and excellent drivers.” Bus service also offers a level of convenience and costeffectiveness not found in available alternatives, “particularly in some places where people up the Peninsula who work in the city can’t drive this direction,” Lawson added. Harker parent Kalpana Jain noted her children, Alisha, grade 4, and Rishi, grade 6, have been riding the Peninsula bus since the service began in the 2012-13 school year and said it has improved the family’s commute dramatically. “We have found the bus service very convenient and the kids enjoy going to school with their friends,” she said. “We would rate it among the top few very important perks of attending Harker.” Jain’s children have found it to be so enjoyable, in fact, that they opt to take the bus even when their mom is heading to school. “Kids love riding the bus to school,” she said. “The bus driver is awesome! There are days when I have to be at school in the morning, and the kids insist on taking the bus while I drive solo to campus!”
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“[The bus service] saves me from driving up and down the Peninsula in crazy traffic,“ said Pip Sanders, parent of Zoe, grade 7, and Jenna, grade 10. She added that the bus line played an important factor in her family’s decision to have their kids attend Harker. “Other private schools on the Peninsula offered buses; when I heard that Harker did too, that changed the equation.” “Traffic on the way to or from school isn’t bad, because I’m against rush hour,” said Jenna Sanders, “but on the way to picking me up, or the way back from dropping me off, my mom could spend more than double the time it takes to get us where we are supposed to be.” Jenna has witnessed firsthand the significant growth in the number of riders. When her sister first began using the bus service from Harker to home, “it was usually just her and sometimes one other person. Now we have had as many as 15 kids on the way from Harker up to Los Altos.” The expansion of the bus services began in late 2013. “When we decided to take on all the home-to-school routes, we knew we couldn’t do it with the existing fleet,”
Lawson said. “It just wasn’t as reliable as we needed it to be.” Hence the decision to run more home-to-school lines was met with the purchase of more, newer vehicles.
so that we can communicate with the drivers,” Armada said. “It’s easier to contact the drivers on a moment’s notice with these twoway radios.”
Another key change was the acquisition of the Fremont line, which previously had been run by a charter company. This made it possible to more easily change routes as needed and reduced the amount of oversight needed to manage Harker’s buses as well as those of the charter company, explained Heather Armada, a longtime Harker bus driver who last year was named Harker’s transportation director.
“In the morning particularly there are a lot of moving parts that we have to interconnect between the buses coming in from the outside that interconnect with the intercampus shuttle,” Lawson said, “and there are decisions that can be made on the fly – if one bus is going to miss the connection – to change things around a little bit.”
Improvements to the buses themselves came later, to help drivers adjust to changing conditions. “We’ve just added two-way radios
In addition to the bus lines, Armada also oversees the thorough maintenance of Harker’s bus fleet and its sprinter vans and SUVs that transport Harker’s athletic teams to and from events. Coaches who drive these vehicles are approved to drive in accordance with safety standards. Her role also requires her to plan out bus routes that can be changed as necessary to suit the needs of Harker families and also get students to and from school on time, which can be complicated, “like a jigsaw puzzle,” she said. As with a puzzle, piecing together the edges of the route first makes the most sense. After that, it’s a matter of finding which pieces of the route to place between the edges. “It’s just a matter of finding out your location, the most people you can provide for and then your times, and how they all link up together,” she said. The increased ridership and pleasant feedback indicate the hard work is paying off. The cost savings, which resulted from eliminating the chartered bus lines, certainly don’t hurt, either.
Photos by Mark Kocina
“We’re not as popular as we used to be with the charter companies,” Lawson said, “but we’re way more popular with our parents, that’s for sure.”
“Other private schools on the Peninsula offered buses; when I heard that Harker did too, that changed the equation.” —Pip Sanders, Harker parent
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PerformingArts
Performing Arts Groups Spread Holiday Cheer at Santana Row Tree Lighting By Zach Jones
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everal Harker performing arts groups hit the stage at Santana Row on Nov. 17 to celebrate the start of the holiday season. The upper school’s varsity and junior varsity dance troupes, Dance Fusion and High Voltage gave exhilarating performances at the packed event, singing and dancing to time-honored holiday standards, at times updated for present-day audiences. Highlights included Kinetic Krew (the upper school’s first all-male dance troupe) performing to a dubstep version of “Jingle Bells” and Downbeat’s jazzedup rendition of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”
Photos by Mark Kocina
UCLA Ensemble Conductor Drops In, Gives Brief Clinic By Zach Jones
In October, UCLA associate music professor Travis Cross visited the upper school campus to work with The Harker School Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio, who himself is a UCLA alumnus. Cross, who conducts UCLA’s Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band and directs its graduate program in wind conducting, was visiting the Bay Area for a brief spell with the UCLA marching band. Harker was one of four high schools he visited during the trip. 18
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PerformingArts Fall Choral Concert Celebrates Multicultural North American Musical Traditions By Zach Jones “I Dream a World,” this year’s upper school fall vocal concert, brought the campus’s five choral groups together for a night that largely celebrated the music of North America and its multicultural traditions. Bel Canto, directed by Jennifer Sandusky and accompanied by Vedaad Shakib, grade 11, started things off with the American folk tune “Down in the Valley,” followed by sprightly Canadian folk song
“Rattle on the Stovepipe.” Bel Canto was then joined by the singers of Camerata and Acoustics to perform the concert’s namesake, Andre Thomas’ “I Dream a World.” Susan Nace then directed Camerata in a stirring rendition of the American folk song “Shenandoah,” and Acoustics, co-directed by Ashwin Rao, grade 11, performed the Billie Holiday classic “God Bless the Child.” The always-entertaining boys vocal club Guys’ Gig took the stage for a cappella performances of the Kelly Clarkson smash “Since U Been Gone” followed by “Up on the Roof,” made famous by doowop legends The Drifters. Cantilena, the women’s vocal group directed by Nace, closed the evening
Photos by Mark Kocina
with a rousing five-song set that included the traditional “Run Children Run,” the Iroquois soundscape “Watane” and Sue Johnson’s “Sister My Sister,” which included solos and duets highlighting the talents of every member of the group.
Middle School Brings Pair of Plays to Fall Theater Season By Zach Jones The middle school performing arts department changed things up a bit for this year’s fall theater productions, putting on a double bill at the Blackford Theater. The first show of the evening was Alan Haehnel’s “No Show,” guest-directed by Cooper Sivara ’07, who also served as an assistant director on the upper school production of “The Laramie Project.” (Sivara was a Conservatory Certificate grad and a theater major at UCLA.) This production was also the inaugural grade 6 play – a new addition to the middle school performance schedule – and featured a cast made up entirely of grade 6 students. In this unique comedy, a group of theater students find themselves in a troubling position, all of them having
forgotten that they are to give a final exam performance at the very moment they all appear on stage. Faced with the possibility of a failing grade, the actors band together to produce a play on the spot, humorously surveying the basic tenets of theater in the process. Next was Phil Willmott’s version of “Treasure Island,” directed by performing arts teacher Monica Colletti, which changed the gender of many key characters from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic swashbuckling tale,
losing none of the charm or adventurous spirit in the process. Compared with the appropriately minimalist setting and wardrobe for “No Show,” Caela Fujii’s costumes and Paul Vallerga’s set design for “Treasure Island” seemed positively flamboyant, though nevertheless fitting for a story of adventure on the high seas, punctuated by exciting set pieces and fight choreography by guest artist Kit Wilder. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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PerformingArts Photos by Mark Kocina
Harker Conservatory Produces Powerful, Experimental ‘Laramie Project’
The team of lighting designer Natti Pierce-Thomson, costume designer Caela Fujii and production manager Brian Larsen again came together to help produce this exceptionally powerful work. Several students also worked behind the scenes to produce the play, namely stage manager Aishu Murari, grade 12, sound board operator Zachary Wong, grade 9, video lead Tamar Sasson, grade 9, and light board operator Shilpa Repakula, grade 12.
By Zach Jones
By William Cracraft
Study of Music and Spanish students came together to attend a special community concert celebrating Día de los Muertos on Nov. 7 at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The San Francisco Symphony performed with Grammy winning MexicanAmerican singer-songwriter Lila Downs, and the show triggered thoughtful reactions from students who attended.
Big Harker Presence in Regional Honor Choirs By William Cracraft Photo provided by Jennifer Sandusky
Classes Combine for Visit to SF Symphony for Día de los Muertos
This year’s fall play, “The Laramie Project,” saw the Harker Conservatory tackle some tough material with grace and style. Upper school drama teacher Jeffrey Draper directed this story about the 1998 kidnapping, beating and murder of a 21-yearold student in Laramie, Wyo. Due to the victim’s sexual orientation, the act was classified as a hate crime.
Eleven Harker singers took part in the American Choral Directors Association’s Coastal Region Honor Choir concert Nov. 19-21, alongside some of the best high school singers in the Bay Area.
grade 12. Three sang in the Women’s Choir: sophomores Anika Banga and Morgan Douglas; and Rithi Jayam, grade 9. After three days of intensive rehearsals, the students performed at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. They were prepped by Susan Nace and Jennifer Sandusky, upper school choir directors. “Susan really did a lot of prep work with the kids prior to the Honor Choir rehearsals,” noted Sandusky.
“I thought the concert was a great blend of classical and cultural music to please everyone of all ages and backgrounds,” said Jessica Zhu, grade 12.
Eight students were part of the Mixed Choir: Krishna Bheda, Karina Butani and Sumi Wadhwa, grade 10; Mia Giammona, Ashwin Rao and Tiffany Zhu, grade 11; and Madhu Karra and Gurutam Thockchom,
Vineet Kosaraju, grade 12, said the show complemented his classroom learning. “As soon as the concert started, I was immediately wowed by the powerful combination of music and culture, and I really enjoyed each of the pieces.
Renowned Choral Director Gives Workshop to Lower School Choirs
While Lawrence Li, grade 12, noted he “thought that the first half of the concert was mysterious, enchanting, but powerful at the same time,” Logan Bhamidipaty, grade 9, said he “found that Lila Downs’ voice in the second half reinvigorated the performance with a fresh, modern twist on classical Latin American music.” It was a great curriculur crossover outing!
The Bucknall Choir’s fourth and fifth graders had the rare opportunity to work with one of the Bay Area’s finest choral directors at their recent choral retreat. Jeffrey Benson, director of choral activities at San Jose State University, is considered a leading authority on the development of choral singers. Students were mesmerized and inspired by Benson’s enthusiasm and engaging techniques during the 75-minute workshop. Bucknall Choir directors Kellie Binney-Smart and Carena Montany are excited for the growth that this opportunity has given their young singers.
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Singers will advance to the California AllState Honor Choir event, to be held Feb. 11-13 in San Jose, based on scores from their successful regional auditions.
By Kellie Binney-Smart
EagleReport By Mark Kocina This fall marked one of the most impressive athletic seasons in Harker’s history. From junior Niki Iyer making another run at a state title, to the football team making it to the postseason for just the second time in school history, there was plenty of action to cheer on! In addition to the extraordinary athletic season, the Eagles also dominated in the classroom. The Central Coast Section (CCS) recognizes the top five team GPAs per sport for each season, and the Eagles cleaned up! Boys and girls cross country, boys and girls water polo, girls golf, girls tennis, and girls volleyball all placed in the top five in their sports, with boys cross country (3.792), boys water polo (3.779) and girls golf (3.822) leading the CCS in their sports. Congratulations to all the hardworking student-athletes!
Football
The team also piled up many league accolades: Bay Football League Co-Offensive MVP: quarterback Nate Kelly, grade 10 Bay Football League Co-Defensive MVP: safety Anthony Contreras, grade 10 First Team All-League: James Pauli, grade 10, Demonte Aleem, grade 9, Jadan McDermott, grade 10, Johnathon Keller, grade 12 Second Team All-League: Jalen Clark, grade 10, Saketh Gurram, grade 11, Trenton Thomas, grade 12, Will Park, grade 11 “Our players were committed all season to being the best young men that they
Volleyball
Kwan, grade 10, and Lindsey Trinh, grade 11, were named to the second team, and Shannon Richardson, grade 12, was an honorable league mention. “I thoroughly enjoyed the girls this year,” stated coach Theresa “Smitty” Smith. “Our seniors have been on the varsity team all four years so it was a great run with them.”
Photo by Mark Kocina
Cross Country
Photo by Stefan Armijo
Varsity football finished its regular season with the best-ever record for a Harker football team (8-2) and a second place league finish. The team lit up the scoreboard all year long to the tune of 38 points a game, and the defense stifled opponents, allowing fewer than 14 points a game. These kinds of numbers gave the football program its second postseason berth in school history. The season ended in the first round of the North Coast Section D4 playoffs at Fortuna High. But the future looks bright for the Eagles as they graduate only five seniors and will return seven starters on offense and nine on defense.
could be, on the field, in the classroom and in the community,” said coach Mike Tirabassi of the athletes he worked with this season. “We will continue to work hard off-season to proudly represent our school.”
The girls volleyball team had another terrific year, qualifying for the program’s 16th CCS appearance! Finishing up the regular season as co-champs in the WBAL with an 18-8 record, the team entered the CCS D4 playoffs with a No. 3 seeding and a first round bye. In the quarterfinals, the team defeated Santa Cruz High in three games led by 11 kills from Rachel Cheng, grade 11. The semifinals matched the team with a familiar foe in league rival Menlo. The scrappy Eagles fought on until the end but, ultimately, fell in four games. Lauren Napier, grade 10, and Jackie Chen, grade 12, led the team with 12 kills each. In addition, Doreene Kang, grade 12, and Cheng were each given first team honors in the WBAL. Chen, Melissa
The girls cross country team qualified for CCS for the first time since 2008, and ended its season with an eighth place section finish. Leading the way was Niki Iyer, grade 11, who was the league champ for the second time in three years, as well as the second place finisher in the D4 CCS finals. Her CCS finish allowed her to race in the state finals where she finished fifth in a field of 192 D4 runners. “Niki continued to develop into one of the top runners in the state, and certainly the best in Harker history,” said coach Scott Chisam. The boys team was led by Connor O’Neill, Photo by Stefan Armijo Jack Rothschild and Lev Sepetov, all grade 12. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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EagleReport “This group trained better than any previous team,” said Chisam. “Both teams had an excellent group of freshmen join the team, a wave that will show fine dividends in the next years.”
a substantial improvement from her 19th place finish last year on the same course.
Water Polo
Photo by Stefan Armijo
Girls Golf The girls golf team finished the season with a 6-4 record and a win at the WBAL Championship at Poplar Creek in an exciting tie-breaker over Menlo. Ashley Zhong and Daphne Liang, both grade 12, posted career bests at Poplar Creek, and Katherine Zhu, grade 10, won the individual league title. That team win also gave the Eagles their first CCS berth in 10 years, where they finished with a respectable eighth place.
Photo by Mark Kocina
Zhu tied for third in CCS and ended her season at NorCals tied for 12th place overall in a field of 83 golfers,
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Ending the season with a strong 13-3 record, the girls tennis team continued its stellar play in the WBAL league tournament. For only the second time in school history, Harker had league champions in doubles as Lizzie Schick, grade 10, and Pam Duke, grade 9, teamed up to place first overall in the doubles bracket. Freshman Liza Egorova placed third in singles, while the team of Gloria Guo, grade 10, and Izzy Gross, grade 12, placed fourth in doubles. The Eagles received a No. 8 seed in the CCS team tournament which sent them directly to the second round, where they defeated Sacred Heart Prep. Waiting for Harker in the quarterfinals was eventual CCS champion Menlo, which ended the Eagles’ season. But the team of Duke and Schick still had a chance for CCS glory in the doubles tournament where
Photo by Mark Kocina
Girls Tennis
Photo by Stefan Armijo
The boys team ended the season with an impressive 15-9 overall record and a 12-5 league record, averaging almost 15 goals a game. The girls team ended its season with a 6-16 record, going 4-13 in league play.
they were seeded No. 2. Duke and Schick defeated Mountain View and Mitty in the first two matches, sending them to the semifinals to face Menlo-Atherton. In the semis, Schick and Duke won a highly contested three games, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to become the first Harker doubles tennis team to make the CCS finals. The duo fought hard, but lost to a very strong Los Altos duo. Congratulations to both on an amazing season! Overall, it was a great fall season. Congratulations to all the Eagles!
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EagleReport Lower and Middle School Athletes Celebrate Successful Fall Season By Theresa “Smitty� Smith Finished in third place in the WBAL at 3-1-1, 4-21 overall. Team awards went to Alaina Valdez, grade 7 (MVP); Hunter Hernandez, grade 7 (Eagle); and Alex Baeckler, grade 7 (Coaches).
We are very appreciative of all the parental support we received this season. So many parents stepped up to provide snacks and support for the coaches. We also appreciate the hard work and dedication of our athletes. Here are the final West Bay Athletic League standings and award winners for the lower and middle school fall sports teams.
Photo by Mark Kocina
Varsity A (Grades 7-8) Softball
The fall sports season was a huge success, with more than 300 participants in grades 4-8.
Lower School Swimming
Junior Varsity A (Grades 4-6) Softball
Team awards went to Alexis Nishimura, grade 5 (MVP); Rani Patel, grade 4 (Eagle) and Linette Hoffman, grade 5 (Coaches).
Finished in first place in the WBAL at 4-1-1. Team awards went to Brooklyn Photo by Mark Kocina Cicero, grade 6 (MVP); Annalyn Bean, grade 5 (Eagle); and Maya Kelly, grade 4 (Coaches).
First place finishers at the Castilleja meet were: William Zhao, grade 6, 100 IM Rhys Edwards, grade 7, 100 IM and 50 fly Leland Rossi, grade 7, 50 free and 200 free Alyssa Huang, grade 8, 50 fly and 50 breast Kurtis Tong, grade 5, 25 back Arjun Akkiraju, grade 8, 50 back Brittany Shou, grade 6, 100 free Anish Pai, grade 6, 200 free Avery Young, grade 7, 50 breast Grade 6 boys, 100 free relay Grade 7 boys, 100 free relay Grade 6 boys, medley relay Grade 7 boys, medley relay Grade 8 boys, medley relay Grade 8 girls, medley relay
Varsity A (Grade 8) Flag Football
Varsity B (Grade 7) Flag Football Finished in third place in the WBAL at 4-1-1, 7-3-1 overall. Team awards went to Srinath Somasundaram (MVP), Marcus Anderson (Eagle) and Nikhil Gargeya (Coaches).
Junior Varsity A (Grade 6) Flag Football
Intramural (Grade 4) Softball Team awards went to Cecilia Yang, Maria Chrysafis and Claire Bauschlicher (Coaches).
Middle School Cross Country Team awards went to Courtni Thompson, grade 7 (top runner); Mihir Sharma, grade 8, Anna Weirich, grade 7, and Kevin Chen, grade 8 (MVP); Arya Maheshwari, grade 7, Grant Miner, grade 8, and Anna Gert, grade 8 (Eagle); and Raj Patel, grade 6, Minali Kapadia, grade 6, and Annabelle Ju, grade 8 (Coaches).
Finished in second place in the WBAL at 5-2, 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Eric Bollar (MVP), Anquan Boldin, Jr. (Eagle) and Richard Amarillas (Coaches).
First place finishers were:
Junior Varsity B (Grade 5) Flag Football
Arya Maheshwari (Harker meet) Grade 6 boys team (WBAL final meet) Grade 7 boys team (Harker meet) Grade 8 boys team (Harker meet) Grade 8 girls team (Harker meet)
Finished in second place in the WBAL at 4-2. Team awards went to Rohan Gorti (MVP), Frederick Hoch (Eagle) and Drake Piscione (Coaches).
Intramural (Grade 4) Flag Football Team awards went to Om Tandon and Jack Ledford (Eagle) and Jerry Li and Enzo Lucketti (Coaches).
Courtni Thompson (Harker meet, Rolling Hills meet, JD Morgan Park meet)
Middle School Swimming Team awards went to Allison Jia, grade 8 (MVP); Nina Gee, grade 7 (Eagle); and Elizabeth Fields, grade 7, and Rishab Parthasarathy, grade 6 (Coaches).
Photo by Stefan Armijo
Finished in fifth place in the WBAL at 2-4, 5-6 overall. Team awards went to Naveen Mirapuri (MVP), Jeffrey Liu (Eagle) and Vedanth Sundaram (Coaches).
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Harker Seniors Follow Sports Aspirations by Signing with Universities By Zach Jones
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Photo by Mark Kocina
Photo by Mark Kocina
arlier this year, three Harker seniors signed to play their sports for their chosen universities. Read on to find out more about their history with their sports and how Harker enabled them to follow their dreams of becoming stellar studentathletes. Shannon Richardson Volleyball Stanford University Shannon Richardson’s varsity volleyball career has been filled with highlights. As a high schooler, she accumulated 853 kills, 159 aces and a .178 hitting percentage, all well above the national average. An avid beach volleyball player since the seventh grade, she first became interested in the sport after seeing it in the summer Olympic Games. “At first, it was more recreational,” Richardson recalled. “I would play in a few tournaments over the summer and did rather well, but I eventually discovered that traveling to Southern California to play was a whole different situation.”
Photo by Stefan Armijo
Inspired by the tougher competition, Richardson began making more frequent trips to Southern California. She now spends a month of every summer living with friends in Hermosa Beach to be closer to the higher level of play.
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Her love for beach volleyball stems from, among other things, the environment. “Naturally, things are more relaxed at the beach, so tournaments are so much fun because you get to spend time with friends, go to the water, and play the sport you love,” she said. Beach volleyball is also a lot more open-ended and driven by the players than indoor volleyball. Coaching during games is limited and practices are organized and held by players. “There are no set teams and coaches; players choose if they want to improve or not,” Richardson said. “This allows me to be passionate and take control of my own
development in a fun and relaxing way.” Because there are only two players to a team in beach volleyball, players tend to get more touches on the ball, which helps sharpen their handling abilities in other situations, including indoor volleyball matches. “I personally feel like beach volleyball improves my ball control much more than indoor does purely because you get more touches in a shorter amount of time,” she said. A Harker “lifer,” Richardson attributes her ability to balance her academic and athletic careers to the skills she learned in school. It is also where she discovered her love for playing sports. “I am a ‘lifer,’ so I played a bunch of sports in the lower school and in the middle school,” she recalled. “You would find me on the football field, playing with the boys in the fall, then on the soccer field, the basketball court and on the volleyball court.” Richardson also noticed similarities in preparing for tests both athletic and academic. “By playing many sports and having to stay on top of my academic responsibilities, I matured quickly and was able to take on more rigorous classes in the upper school, while playing a varsity sport and trying to get recruited,” she said. With a stint at Stanford on the horizon, Richardson is looking forward to tackling a whole new set of challenges. “I hope that in the four years I spend at Stanford, I can become a better player and a better person,” she said. “I know that the relationships I make in my time there will be ones to treasure, much like the ones I have made at Harker.”
Signing on to play for Claremont-McKenna College was a decision of careful consideration for Johnathan Keller, who had offers from many schools, including Ivy Leagues. “However, after visiting many schools, I knew two things: I wanted to stay with the California weather, and I wanted a school where I could play as a freshman and not redshirt or be on the bench until my later years,” he said. In addition to its great academic programs and sunny Southern California climes, Claremont-McKenna also promised to start playing Keller in his freshman year. Keller’s football lineage speaks for itself. His cousin Jeff Garcia was a four-time Pro Bowl NFL quarterback who now works on the St. Louis Rams’ coaching squad. Keller drew inspiration from watching his cousin on the field as a child. “I used to think it was amazing watching him play in front of so many people,” Keller said. He started playing the sport at 8 years old and moved on to tackle football once he reached grade 6.
He credited Harker’s teachers with helping maintain his academic standing while also following his passion for football, and noted that many recruiters were aware of Harker’s academic reputation. “Knowing this,” Keller said, “they weren’t worried that I was short of any academic credits or if it would be hard getting used to the rigorous academic environment of college.”
Photo by Mark Kocina
The talent seems to run in the family. So far this year, Keller has recorded nearly 350 yards as a wide receiver with 58.2 yards per game. “I enjoy the competition in football and all the great memories that are made with the other players,” he said. “The football team is like a family to me.”
Photo by Mark Kocina
ark Kocina Photo by M
Johnathon Keller | Football Claremont-McKenna College
Oisin Coveney | Soccer Swarthmore College Oisin Coveney doesn’t remember how he got started playing soccer. That’s because when he started playing, he was just 2 years old. “However, I kept playing the sport because I could be creative on the field,” Coveney reminisced. “I loved trying to dribble and beat players, and pretend I was on the best soccer team in the world.” The rhythms of a soccer match and the potential for creativity are what Coveney enjoys about the sport. “There’s a beautiful flow to soccer where you have to constantly think about where your teammates and the opponent’s teammates are, where the ball is going to be, and how we can score another goal,” he said. The dedication of Harker’s teachers were of utmost importance to Coveney’s success as a student-athlete. Like Keller, Coveney found that recruiters were well aware of Harker’s academic pedigree, which made the recruiting process much easier than anticipated. “With Harker, I was able to pursue my dream of getting into a great school and playing soccer in college,” he said. Coveney said he is excited to join Swarthmore’s soccer team, which is a force in the Centennial Conference. “A lot of hard work will definitely be involved,” he said, “but I can’t wait to get a chance to prove myself to my teammates, my coaches and the school.”
Photo by Stefan Armijo
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Harker Community Flocks to
Homecoming
By Zach Jones
A
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the whole community to get together,” said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. “From preschool to the upper school, everyone can come together as one community, to support our students in the game, but also in the various ways that they’re participating, whether it’s musically or through cheer or selling pizza.” Attendees began arriving in droves as early as two hours before the 7 p.m. kickoff, enjoying a variety of food from Mrs. Carley’s Café and a delicious array prepared by the Harker kitchens – the staff had been at work since 7 a.m. preparing for the big event – alongside pizza and candy sold by Harker students. Lower, middle and upper school campuses had tables filled with confections and chips for parents and students to snack on, while Harker’s alumni office had a special area with white linen and great food, which enjoyed a steady stream of visitors. “It’s
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
Eagles Win 23-13
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
blustery early autumn evening set the stage for Harker’s 2015 Homecoming celebration, and the football team turned it into a great night with a 23-13 hard-fought win. This year’s Homecoming saw people from across the Harker community gather at the upper school campus to cheer on the Harker Eagles football squad as it faced off against Santa Cruz at Davis Field. In addition to the game, Homecoming offered a chance for Harker community members – students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff – to socialize and reminisce.
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really exciting, and everyone’s having fun,” said Elizabeth Yang, grade 9, who was selling candy to raise funds for her class.
Prior to the game, the early arrivals enjoyed special performances by Harker’s junior cheerleaders and the timehonored Eaglets fly-by. Just before the game, several of Harker’s vocal groups, directed by lower school performing arts teacher Carena Montany, sang “The Harker School
Photos by Mark Kocina unless otherwise noted
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the whole community to get together.”
– Jennifer Gargano, Song” and “The StarAssistant Head of School Spangled Banner.” The upper school jazz for Academic Affairs ensembles combined to provide accompaniment and the varsity cheerleaders maintained a steady blast of cheerful encouragement from the sidelines.
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
The first half of the game was hotly contested, with Santa Cruz reaching the end zone early, followed by a strong answer from Harker, which scored a safety and a touchdown to take a 9-6 lead at halftime. During halftime, Harker’s cheer squad and varsity dancers gave energetic, crowd-pleasing performances. Shortly after, this year’s Homecoming court took the field, with seniors Edward Sheu and Stephanie Huang named the 2015 Homecoming King and Queen.
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
Indeed, the ball changed hands several times, but neither team was able to capitalize until very late in the fourth quarter when Harker put paid to the match with a great run to make it 23-13 with less than two minutes left. Harker D was fired up and bottled up Santa Cruz, nailing the lid on the win. It was a great night out with a big, lively crowd! Huge congratulations to the football team, including coaching, training and other support staff for a great, well-fought game. Go, Eagles!
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
Photos by Mark Kocina unless otherwise noted
In the second half, both teams pushed hard. Santa Cruz took back the lead to make it 13-9. Push literally came to shove in the fourth quarter as each team tried to hang on in fourth-down situations to get a drive going. Finally, with 10:40 remaining in the game, Harker marched downfield and scored a touchdown to make it 16-13. For the next eight minutes the crowd was on the edge of their seats knowing if Santa Cruz found the right gap, the score would reverse, again.
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
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Oregon Shakespeare Gives Students Comprehensive Theatrical Trip & Literary Experience Annual
By Zach Jones
Photos provided by Pauline Paskali
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�
OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
n fall 2009, upper school English teacher Pauline Paskali rented a van with the intention of driving to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland with four of her students. Paskali
reached out to fellow English faculty member Jason Berry to see if he would go along. “’Of course!’ he
Photos provided by Pauline Paskali
said,” recalled Paskali.
Berry ended up driving all the way to Ashland and back. The students came back raving about their time at OSF, Paskali said. The following year, more than 20 students signed up. The most recent trip included 27, which is right around where Paskali would like to keep it. “At the time, I was teaching Shakespeare,” she said, explaining the impetus for the trip. “And of course every time you teach Shakespeare, having the kids read and act out the lines makes it come alive for them, and helps them to understand what’s going on.” Paskali thought it would be good for the students to see what Shakespeare’s words would be like when interpreted by professional actors in a professional setting: “I don’t know how much exposure some of our kids have to plays, so I think it gives them an opportunity to connect.”
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival was founded in 1935, but its beginnings go back to the Chautauqua adult education movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first Chautauqua building in Ashland went up in 1893, and was later renovated to seat 1,500. It thrived for the next several years, attracting performers and speakers such as composer John Philip Sousa and politician William Jennings Bryan, according to the OSF website. The Chautauqua building was replaced by a domed structure in 1917. It was torn down in 1933, about a decade after the Chautauqua movement fell into decline. Noting the similarities between the Chautauqua’s remaining walls and those of Elizabethan theaters, local teacher Angus L. Bowmer proposed holding a three-day festival at the site of the old Chautauqua building to coincide with Ashland’s Fourth of July festivities. The Oregon Shakespearean Festival gave its first show, a production of “Twelfth Night,” on July 2, 1935. OSF now puts on 11 plays in its three theaters during its season, which runs from February to November. Although the works of Shakespeare are its namesake, the company has expanded to include works of other classic and contemporary playwrights. This most recent season featured the play “Sweat,” written by Lynn Nottage, whom OSF commissioned as part of its American Revolutions series of plays about decisive moments in American history. “I can easily say that ‘Sweat’ is the best play I have ever seen,” senior Alex Henshall gushed. “Its profoundness and intelligent handling of its subject matter and the questions it raises affected me deeply.” Kayvon Solaimanpour, grade 11, had a similar reaction. He described “Sweat” as “an amazing play about the struggles in an industrial town, jumping back and forth between 2000 and 2008. It left me thinking for a couple hours after having seen the play.”
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In addition to contemporary plays, the students also enjoyed seeing Shakespeare come to life on stage. “Before this journey, I knew little about Shakespeare and wasn’t super interested in his works,” Henshall said. “I had very seldom seen or read any of his works, mostly because I noticed a very real language barrier that hampered my enjoyment of his plays.” Henshall, who has gone on the weekend trip for four years, saw firsthand how much can change when Shakespeare’s words move from the page to the stage. “The performances and the ways in which the directors envision their productions of Shakespeare’s timeless plays always entertain me,” Henshall said. “I love asking myself, ‘I wonder what setting the director of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ will use? What will the costumes be like? Will there be a modern interpretation or a classical flair?’” “The ways in which the plays are presented affects the way in which you engage with them,” Paskali said. In Paskali’s experience, the sojourn has a lasting effect on attending students. She recalled a moment when, days after the 2009 trip, Melinda Wang ’10 peeked into Paskali’s classroom and exclaimed, “I’m thinking in Shakespeare!”
“People love story, they love
performance, and they love that it comes alive … in a way that a play on the page doesn’t.”
– Pauline Paskali, English teacher After their first visit to OSF, students and alumni often return on their own. “People love story, they love performance,” said Paskali, “and they love that it comes alive to them and it speaks to them in a way that maybe a play on the page doesn’t.”
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Photos provided by Pauline Paskali
OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
“Because I have an interest in literature, this trip [has allowed] me to experience it with a new perspective and has definitely made me more interested in reading, writing and enjoying literature,” said sophomore Stephanie Swanson, who this year went on her second Harker OSF trip. An avid reader of Shakespeare, Swanson said she also enjoyed the opportunity to see OSF’s other offerings. “Seeing all of the plays, from ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ to ‘Guys and Dolls,’ getting to meet and understand some of the actors through discussions and workshops, and bonding with all of your fellow Shakespeare aficionados are just a few of the incredible opportunities offered on this trip, despite its short length,” she said. Oregon Shakespeare Festival also offers an impressive array of educational programs, many of them run by OSF actors, who teach students critical elements of drama through hands-on activities. In an exercise meant to illustrate a concept from the archetypal narrative of “the hero’s journey,” students covered their eyes and allowed their fellow students to be their eyes and ears while walking around the room. On a previous visit, students acted out a line from the “The Tempest” using movements and sounds, “trying to understand the play through those lenses,” Paskali recalled. Incidentally, the journey to OSF can also make for a fun road trip. “The bus rides are as fun as you make it. I sat with a bunch of my friends and we played games, told stories and even tried to do a little homework,” said Solaimanpour. “To me, this goes to show that even if you are doing something you love, it is always better to do that same thing with your friends.”
GreaterGood
Photos provided by Arun Shriram, grade 12
Senior Organizes Fundraising Concert for Make-A-Wish Charity By Debbie Cohen On the evening of Sept. 12, senior Arun Shriram combined his love of music with his drive to help others by holding a fundraising concert on behalf of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area. The event raised nearly $4,000. Called “Around the World!” the concert, held at Good Samaritan United Methodist Church in Cupertino, showcased music from several different cultures. More than a dozen Harker students were involved in the effort. Appearing on saxophone was Harker staff member Alejandro Osorio, who works at Harker’s tech help desk. Of Shriram, Osorio said, “He’s a very good musician. He comes from a musical family and in his own right is really talented.” “The concert was a phenomenal success!” noted Shriram, who learned to play the Indian drums from his father. “I started this concert after being inspired by my role as an Indian percussionist in the San Francisco World Music Festival. There were professional
musicians from all around the world, including Tibet, India, China, Latin America, Korea, Azerbaijan and Uganda. I knew that a lot of my friends at school were very talented in music, and being an Indian percussionist as well as an orchestral percussionist, I was able to bring in friends from both worlds and present music from different parts of the globe. That’s why I called it ‘Around the World,’ and I chose the charity Make-A-Wish because I feel that their mission really
aligned with me.” The concert “was absolutely magical,” noted Smriti Koodanjeri, Harker chemistry teacher. “The artistry, love and giving from so many Harker students brought tears to my eyes. The fusion of Eastern and Western music was simply outstanding!” Each year, tens of thousands of volunteers, donors and supporters like Shriram advance the Make-A-Wish effort to grant the wishes of children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions. In the United States and its territories, on average, a wish is granted every 37 minutes. To see a video of the musicians: http:// bit.ly/1X33sVm.
“The artistry, love and giving from so many Harker students brought tears to my eyes. The fusion of Eastern and Western music was simply outstanding!”
- Smriti Koodanjeri, Harker chemistry teacher
To read more Greater Good stories, please see our outreach link at http://news.harker.org/ tag/outreach/. Among the most recent stories: Upper School Upper School Senior Creates Free Tutoring Network Student Joins Girls Who Code Panel for Intel Education Visionaries Conference Grade 12 Student Spends Summers Performing Outreach Work in Pakistan Grade 9 Class Heads to Guadalupe River Park Conservancy for Community Service Day WiSTEM Club Holds Fundraiser in Support of Girls in Rural Kenya Hoops & Scoops Charity Basketball Game Raises Money to Help Fight Muscle Disease Upper School Student Receives Community Service Award Upper School Student Dedicates Spare Time to Volunteering at S.F.-Marin Food Bank
Middle School Showstoppers Performs at Red Cross Fundraising Event Middle School Canned Food Drive to Help Ease Hunger Over the Holidays Middle School Organizes Giving Tree for Local Low Income Families Middle School Collects Toiletries for Women’s and Children’s Shelter Lower School Grade 2 Students Deliver Decorated Pumpkins to Neighbors Grade 5 Students Support Local Community Food Drive Grade 4 Toy Drive Brings Holiday Cheer to Those in Need
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Eastman School of Music Faculty Jazz Quartet Kicks Off Harker Concert Series Season By Zach Jones When a group of academics got together to play at Nichols Hall recently, the results were anything but academic. The four veteran musicians of the Eastman School of Music Faculty Jazz Quartet opened the 2015-16 season of the Harker Concert Series on Nov. 6. Prior to the evening show, the quartet gave a wonderful morning performance for students and, the next day, held a three-hour master class for students. The group, as its name indicates, comprises faculty members at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. All masters in their own right, their credentials have led them to stints with the likes of Tito Puente, Chet Baker and Buddy Rich. They have been playing together for more than 15 years. Having played with quite a few of them, the quartet harbors a healthy respect for the greats, evident in the choice to begin with the evening with Duke Ellington’s “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart,” immediately elevated by trumpeter Clay Jenkins’ buoyant melodies and pianist Harold Danko’s tasteful comping, drummer Rich Thompson quietly dominating his space on the stage. Danko’s bluesy solo cleared the way for an effortless bass solo by Jeff Campbell, with the trumpet returning for the outro.
Photos by Mark Kocina
The next tune, the Thompson-penned “Less is More,” saw the band cruising through an infectious three-four stride, driven along by Campbell’s strolling bass, providing what might be a delightful
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soundtrack to an afternoon walk through the city at twilight, preferably after a good rain. Danko opened the next number with an extended intro of unaccompanied chords that fell in sheets, making way for a Campbell bass solo that had Jenkins wearing one of many trance-like expressions he showed during the evening. He followed with a virtuosic and tuneful solo that led gracefully into another Dankoled section, this one less busy, gathering momentum for a thrilling finish that Jenkins punctuated with a sustained note. The band would return to the greats later in the set, treating Thelonious Monk’s “Holiday in San Francisco” with the delicacy and experimentation unique to the beloved prodigy, as Danko took a number of mid-solo detours, in line with the Monk canon. Jenkins’ trumpet solo wavered between plaintive and explosive as Campbell provided sparse accompaniment. Campbell would add, after the song had concluded, “I often wonder what that trip was like,” eliciting some – perhaps unexpectedly loud – laughter from the audience. The group closed the set with a Jenkins riff on a Tommy Dorsey chord progression, titled “Work First” (as it was based on Dorsey’s “Opus 1”), introducing stomping, upbeat drum rolls and a lively, playful melody. Each solo carried with it a distinct sense of fun and adventure, as well as a clear sense of one another’s abilities. Perhaps no one onstage was having more fun than Thompson, however, who traded solos with this bandmates en route to the finale, which ended with Jenkins holding the last note, possibly one of the softest exclamation points in recent memory.
Passages
In Memoriam Photo provided by Mark Gelineau ‘09
by William Cracraft
Dan Gelineau Feb. 21, 1950 – Oct. 31, 2015 We are saddened to announce that retired Harker employee Dan Gelineau recently passed away in his home. Mr. Gelineau, a Harker alumnus (PAMA ’65), began his full-time career at Harker in 1972, moving through positions as a P.E. teacher, athletic director, dean of students, and the position that he held at his retirement in 2002, assistant head of school for non-academic affairs. Mr. Gelineau had an exceptional background in school bus management and was a certified bus trainer, which gave him special insight into the management of our bus transportation program. Additionally, he managed safety and security of all school operations and was responsible for the school’s disaster and emergency preparedness plan until his retirement. Mr. Gelineau was a hard-working and dedicated Harker employee, and a warm and loving family man. He also played a mean accordion, which livened up the annual holiday dinner in the boarding program for many years. He will be greatly missed. Mr. Gelineau was predeceased by his wife, Pam, also a longtime Harker employee (see Harker Quarterly, winter 2014).
By Zach Jones
The Gelineaus’ children, Mark and David, are also alumni of the school. Mark (’90) is a Harker middle school teacher; Mark’s wife, Tiffany, has subbed in our nurse’s office; and David (’97) worked for several years in our summer program. The Gelineau family has contributed their talents to Harker in ways that will leave a lasting legacy and we extend our deepest condolences to the whole family. A memorial service was held Nov. 14 followed by a reception at Buca di Beppo. Both were attended by many past and current Harker employees. Camp Okizu, a camp Photos provided by Harker Archives dedicated to supporting families with children battling cancer, is an organization that is near and dear to the Gelineau family. Mr. Gelineau worked with the camp for many years and had a special fondness for its mission. The family has asked, in lieu of flowers and gifts, that donations be made to Camp Okizu. This link has been created for donations in honor of Mr. Gelineau: http://bit.ly/dangelineau. The family is grateful for the outpouring of support by the Harker community.
Milestones
Upper school art teacher Pilar Agüero-Esparza’s work was recently featured at the San Jose Latino arts center MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana) in a series of works titled “Found in Translation.” The exhibit uses everyday objects such as street signs and name tags to depict the subtleties and complexities of multilingual cultures. Each of the featured Photo by Kyle Cavallaro artists drew on their experiences growing up in urban and rural areas throughout California as members of multicultural communities.
In late November, library director Sue Smith attended the National Council for Teachers of English annual convention in Minneapolis, where she and a group of colleagues gave a talk on teaching students in kindergarten to high school how to select sources. Smith had been utilizing a new approach to information literacy that focused on threshold concepts – core concepts that Photo by Mark Kocina can shape how a subject is perceived – instead of skills. “I have been using this new approach in the research component of Modern International Affairs, a semester elective I co-teach with [upper school history teacher] Damon Halback.” H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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Business & Entrepreneurship Business & Entrepreneurship & DECA Kick Off Fun, Busy Year By William Cracraft mentorship luncheon in which students in groups of five or six ate with a mentor of their choice. W e hope to inspire students to pursue their dreams and share important ideas,” Hong said.
The business and entrepreneurship and DECA programs have had a busy first quarter. Read on!
TEDx On Oct. 17, 220 students participated in TEDxHarkerSchool, an innovative youth-only conference that “featured nine amazing speakers, 10 interactive booths and 30 inspirational mentors,” said Shannon Hong, grade 12, who helped organize the event.
Innovative companies hosting booths included the makers of Nod, a virtual reality device, and Puzzlebox Orbit, a mind-controlled drone. “Moreover, 28 industry professionals joined us for a 34
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CareerConnect In early October, the CareerConnect program hosted a LinkedIn profile workshop at the upper school campus. Students and faculty were invited to learn more about creating effective profiles from LinkedIn employees James Gatenby, manager of Web development, and Asha Chandrashekaran, senior software test engineer. Students without an existing account were taught how to create one, while current users were shown what mate-
Photo provided by Vanessa Tyagi, grade 10
“Our mission is to promote ideas worth sharing – social equality, astronomy, politics, genetics and much more,” she added. “We fully believe that youth can be the ones who change the world, and “We fully we hope to enable revolutionary thinking believe that within our commuyouth can be nity. This year, we had the ones who an amazing speaker lineup,” including change the Stanford geneticist world, and we Michael Snyder; youth hope to enable activist Helen Kassa; international property revolutionary lawyer Neel Chatterjee; thinking within Kelly Sawyers, senior our community.” campaigner at Change. org; Leila Janah, Shannon Hong, social entrepreneur grade 12, and founder and CEO TEDxHarkerSchool of Sama Group; Raja organizer GuhaThakurta, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Santa Cruz; writer and Harker senior Kaity Gee; DoorDash CTO Andy Fang ’10; and upper school chemistry teacher Smriti Koodanjeri.
TEDxHarkerSchool team members are Hong and fellow seniors Aashika Balaji and John Jerney; juniors Aditya Dhar, Srivatsav Pyda, Rahul Shukla and Peter Wu; and sophomores Emily Chen, Dolan Dworak, Kaitlin Hsu, Neelesh Ramachandran and Anooshree Sengupta.
rials they should add while still high school students. A few weeks later, in early November, 13 students from CareerConnect attended the QuickBooks Connect 2015 Conference at the San Jose Convention Center, where they participated in a session called “21 Principles of Persuasion” by Jason Nazar, tech entrepreneur and a current contributor to Forbes and Business Insider as well as the CEO of Docstoc.com. With 21 key steps, Nazar introduced persuasion skills that can be used in high profile negotiations as well as in everyday life. Students were free to explore different booths from a variety of startups, where the exhibitors offered free merchandise and shared their stories of entrepreneurism with students. Following the Nazar workshop, students headed to the main stage for two impressive keynote addresses: Brian Grazer and Oprah Winfrey. Grazer, an Academy Award-winning
Business & Entrepreneurship producer and co-founder of Imagine Entertainment, opened the session with his story of success. “He emphasized perseverance and gave an anecdote of how he made it a mission to always reach out and connect with new people,” said Lucas Wang, grade 11. “Oprah Winfrey then took the stage and gave a speech on intention, stating, ‘It’s the energy of the intention that is going to come back to you, because intention is everything.’ Students … need to understand why they’re doing something and what they hope to achieve,” Wang added. “Overall the attending students got a glimpse in on the entrepreneurial scene in the valley as well as learning new key skills in persuasion,” continued Wang. “The lessons taught by Grazer and Winfrey provided life skills and advice to the students that can apply to everything.”
Harker Podcast Network The B.E. podcasters launched a new series in September called the “Explained Series.” Recently released episodes include “Venture Capital: Explained with Dharmesh Thakker,” general partner at Battery Ventures; “Digital Health: Explained with Dr. Sangeeta Aggarwal,” of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center; and “Car Dealerships: Explained with Jeremy Beaver,” of the Del Grande Dealer Group.
DECA Report Along with tuning up members’ business sense, DECA reaches out to help various organizations, and members were busy this fall! In late October, 11 Harker DECA members participated in the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Muscle Walk. There were multiple booths where participants could make
arts and crafts to raise money for MDA. Additionally, there were speakers who told their stories about battling muscular dystrophy. Alexis Gauba, grade 11, said, “It was valuable to understand more about the disease and how we can help support the cause.” A few weeks later, Harker’s DECA crew threw an ice cream social outside of Manzanita Hall. The team of officers set up a table where they laid out ice cream and multiple toppings. Sanil Rajput, grade 12, said, “The ice cream social is always a great event as it gets everyone in the Harker community excited for DECA, regardless of whether they’re in the club or not.” The idea behind this event was to bring the Harker community together in a fun and informal way with tasty ice cream and fun music, and get members excited for the upcoming DECA season. That same week, the group held its second annual mock conference to help improve competitive results and prepare new members for the upcoming DECA season. Members interested in improving testing and role-playing skills arrived at the B.E. classroom – the Innovation Center – on a Saturday, took tests and practiced the role-playing that takes place in actual competitions. Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 10 and director of role-plays, noted, “The mock conference was a great start to the competitive season, and really helped our members figure out what they need to improve on to be successful this year.”
Photos provided by Vanessa Tyagi, grade 10
In mid-November, DECA held its most popular event of the month: a schoolwide capture-the-flag game. Partnering with Harker Spirit, Harker DECA turned this chapter event into a class competition. Sophomores took on seniors, while freshmen battled juniors. Juniors took the top slot followed by seniors, sophomores and freshmen. “Capture-the-flag was a great success which really got the whole Harker community together and excited for a fun event,” said Logan Drazovich, grade 12, Harker DECA’s vice president of public relations. “It has definitely been the most-enjoyed chapter campaign for DECA Month so far.” Just prior to the Thanksgiving break, DECA held another MDA fundraiser, Hoops and Scoops, at which faculty played a DECA team in an enthusiastic basketball game while other DECA members sold ice cream and toppings outside. The group raised about $350 in that effort. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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s y o j n E y t i n u Harker Comm at n u F d e m e h T Autumn-
O
ct. 11 was a banner day for people from throughout the Harker community, who arrived at the middle school campus in droves for the 65th annual Harker Family & Alumni Picnic. The carnival games were, as always, a popular attraction, offering attendees the chance to throw rings around bottles, fling stuffed frogs, tip tombstones and more.
2015
65th Annual Family & Alumni Picnic By Zach Jones
Harker faculty and staff worked the booths, making sure a great time was had by all. “It’s always fun to see all the teachers behind the booths,” said Amy Wardenburg ’13, who also said she enjoys returning to see old friends.
Photos by Mark Kocina unless otherwise noted
One of last year’s most popular attractions, the zip line, again had attendees soaring through the air, while the new Hamster Dash put festival-goers in a large plastic ball that they moved across a track by running on all fours.
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Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
The crowd swelled in front of the middle school amphitheater for the afternoon show, which featured several of Harker’s talented performing arts groups in a Halloweenthemed spectacular, singing and dancing to songs such as “Thriller” and “Monster Mash.”
Photos by Mark Kocina unless otherwise noted
“In an age when everyone is living fast-paced, plugged-in lives, a day of relaxation, play and human connection is both needed and precious.” – Chris Nikoloff, Head of School
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
“I love seeing everyone in a different context having a lot of fun,” said Pauline Paskali, upper school English department chair. “I also love seeing old students who come back.” Following the day’s festivities, Head of School Chris Nikoloff sent a message to the Harker community to express his gratitude to all involved in making the event a success. “In an age when everyone is living fast-paced, plugged-in lives, a day of relaxation, play and human connection is both needed and precious,” he said. “Our deep gratitude to Danae McLaughlin [director of special events] for her vision and diligence in putting together, along with her team of volunteers, a truly memorable day for the community.”
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Debate
by Greg Achten and Jenny Alme
Great Start for Speech and Debate Season The speech and debate team is off to an amazing start in the 2015-16 competition season, with scores of students already attending tournaments. Perhaps most impressive, the team has experienced success across the entire program, with many awards won by young students in their first or second year of competition. Photos by Mark Kocina
Broad-Based Team Success Each division of the large speech and debate team has had notable accomplishments this year. Nearly every trip has produced multiple awards while helping students hone their skills. In public forum debate, Abhinav Ketineni, Eesha Chona, Sorjo Banerjee, Jasmine Liu and Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 12; Alexander Lam and Emaad Raghib, grade 11; Emily Chen and Karena Kong, grade 10; and Cindy Wang, Clarissa Wang, Ashwin Rammohan and Erana Wan, grade 9, have all won awards in tournament competition. In congressional debate, juniors Aditya Dhar and Michael Tseitlin, and freshman Jason Huang have placed highly.
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In Lincoln-Douglas debate, Karen Qi, grade 12; Srivatsav Pyda, grade 11; and grade 9 students Neha Tallapragada, Kelly Shen, Satvik Narasimhan and Suraj Pakala have experienced success and won awards at tournaments. In speech, Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 9, and juniors Divya Rajasekharan, Sana Aladin and Andrew Tierno have performed well and won awards. And in policy debate, Panny Shan, grade 12; Molly Wancewicz and Anika Jain, grade 11; and Megan Huynh, Jacob Ohana and Amandeep Ahluwalia, grade 10, have won awards.
The middle school speech and debate team began its competition season in November at the San Francisco Middle School Fall Classic. Avi Gulati, Jason Pan, Vibha Arramreddy, Annie Ma, Cynthia Chen and Nash Melisso, grade 8; Krishay Mukhija, Zain Awais and Andrew Sun, grade 7; and Rishi Jain, grade 6, all received gold medals for their excellent performances. At the same event, silver medals were won by Jeremy Ding, Reiya Das and Sachin Shah, grade 8; Sidra Xu, Aditi Vinod and Akshay Manglik, grade 7; and Anshul Reddy, Arnav Jain, Aimee
Debate Wang, Alina Yuan and Akhilesh Chegu, grade 6. This broadbased success from students in grades 6-12 is noteworthy. Speech and debate coach Greg Achten Photos by Mark Kocina noted that while the whole team has excelled, he is particularly impressed with the early season awards won by the speech team, noting, “So far this year, four different speech students have won tournament championships. That is already more tournament championships in a single season than our speech team has ever won and the first semester is not even over.” New coach Sandra Berkowitz also has been very pleased with the success and work ethic of team members, saying, “As a new teacher and coach at Harker, I am delighted to be a part of a strong speech and debate program that is the epitome of an inspired learning environment. I am impressed with the commitment our debaters and speakers have to honing their craft, and to building their individual argumentation and persuasion skill sets while at the same time fostering an overall Harker team spirit.”
Young Debaters Doing Well One of the most impressive features of the team’s early success is how many of the awards have been won by middle school students, freshmen and sophomores. “The middle school program had a fantastic first tournament of the season,” said coach Karina Momary. “It was great to see so many young students grow in their confidence levels in presenting and defending their ideas against their peers.
The numerous gold and silver medals our students brought home is a strong reflection of their hard work.” Momary’s work preparing the middle school students for tournaments also has paid dividends this year as alumni of the middle school program have already started achieving success in the varsity division. At the Holy Cross tournament in New Orleans, freshmen Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang reached the quarterfinals in the varsity division of public forum. At the St. Francis tournament, sophomore Megan Huynh was named a top five speaker in the varsity division of policy debate and freshman Neha Tallapragada was the top overall speaker in varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate. At the Mission San Jose speech tournament, freshman Nikhil Dharmaraj was named the champion in original oratory.
varsity. The school should be proud of their successes.” Looking ahead, the team has several more months of regular season competition before the state and national tournaments in the late spring. An interesting new tournament is being added this year. NASA and The George Washington University collaborated to create the inaugural NASA Astrobiology Debate Tournament, which will be held in February 2016. The tournament will allow students to do scientific research about the ethics involved in the discovery of life on other planets. This unique opportunity will allow students to combine their passions for science and debate and promises to be an exciting event.
Speech and debate department chair and coach Jenny Alme noted that, “The overwhelming success of our younger students, especially those who are competing and winning awards in the varsity division, points toward a very bright future for our program. It is, of course, wonderful when our juniors and seniors do well, but it is really special when freshmen and sophomores win awards in H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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Advancement
By Debbie Cohen
Photo provided by Juston Glass
This fall two popular Harker programs expanded their offerings thanks to generous grants from the Paramitas Foundation. The business & entrepreneurship (B.E.) department and the lower and middle school performing arts programs each received support from the foundation, which was founded by Harker parent Winston Chen.
Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Chen launched the Paramitas Foundation in 1992 with the mission to support universities, and environmental and community service organizations. Since then, the foundation has set up numerous scholarships and research projects. Chen and his wife, Phyllis Huang, are the parents of Harker students Karina Chen, grade 7, and Nicole Chen, grade 9.
Growth of the Business and Entrepreneurship Department Because of the Paramitas Foundation’s past and current pledge of support over the next two years, as well as other contributions, the B.E. department has been able to enhance its program and add to its staff. Launched in 2013, the department has rapidly grown to offer a variety of inspiring programs providing business and entrepreneurial education, leadership opportunities and career preparatory programs to upper school students. “The Paramitas Foundation grant has been essential to the development and expansion of all that we have done within the business and entrepreneurship department,” said Juston Glass, B.E. director. “The programs that bring opportunities for our students to grow as emerging leaders, budding entrepreneurs and future business professionals wouldn’t be available if it weren’t for the generosity of the foundation and Mr. Chen. I am very grateful for their support, enthusiasm for our mission, and kindness to provide us the resources to make it all possible.” The business and entrepreneurship curriculum focuses on developing real-
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Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
Paramitas Foundation Grants Support Harker’s B.E. and Performing Arts Programs
world business acumen, entrepreneurial readiness and innovative skills. Students learn about marketing, finance, management and entrepreneurship through introductory business courses, attending multiple business and entrepreneurial events held throughout the year, and by participating in the Harker DECA chapter, an internationally recognized, award-winning competitive business organization. Junior Alexis Gauba said that taking part in the various programs in the B.E. department has given her opportunities and experiences that will be invaluable going into college and beyond. “As a part of CareerConnect, I've been able to see visionaries like Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey speak at conferences and build up a professional network by interacting with leaders in various fields. Through DECA I've been able to write business plans and pitch product ideas to judges at international competitions, and now I'm able to mentor younger members as they are doing the same,” she shared.
Advancement CareerConnect is a student-led networking, career preparatory and professionalism program for rising sophomores and juniors, designed to prepare Harker students for future success in college and the workplace.
Meanwhile, TEDxHarkerSchool, which this year drew more than 250 attendees, is a program of local, selforganized events that brings people together to share a TED-like experience.
Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Last December, B.E. held its inaugural Harker BEcon2014, a business, economics and entrepreneurship conference for Bay Area students featuring a wide variety of respected Silicon Valley business professionals. Read more about current B.E. activities on page 34 and search "business" at Harker News (news.harker.org) for the latest updates.
At Harker’s lower and middle schools, performing arts classes include music, theater and dance instruction. Through these classes students build literacy, learn problem-solving and teamwork, build poise and confidence in performing and develop a stage presence early on that carries over into the classroom and in their future academic careers.
“The foundation makes it possible for me to spend more time choreographing and preparing the students for their performances." – Gail Palmer, Dance Fusion director One such program is Dance Fusion, Harker’s grade 4-6 girls and boys dance ensemble. This by-audition group comprises skilled dancers who work together at a fast pace to learn and perform routines with high energy, precision and enthusiasm. In addition to weekly classes, students who land a coveted spot in the group attend weekly rehearsals for their special performances. Dance Fusion regularly performs its high-energy routines at the annual Harker Family & Alumni Picnic as well as the multi-campus holiday assemblies. “I am thankful for the support the Paramitas Foundation has given to Dance Fusion. By supporting the hiring of guest choreographers, the foundation makes it possible for me to spend more time choreographing and preparing the students for their performances,” said Gail Palmer, K-8 dance instructor and Dance Fusion’s director.
"[Dance Fusion] lets you get out of your comfort zone." – Anna Bean, grade 5 Dancer Anna Bean, grade 5, reported that one thing she really likes about Dance Fusion is how “it lets you get out of your comfort zone. You are challenged to the point where you are
Photo by Mark Kocina
Photo provided by Juston Glass
Harker also partners with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to bring students an intensive and experiential program focusing on corporate strategy, entrepreneurial principles, financial literacy, business plans, and how to grow and develop one’s business endeavors.
Performing Arts Soars to New Heights
having a lot of fun. The week before [a show] is hard but it really prepares you!" In addition, funding allowed for the purchase of a portable sound system and a projector for the middle school dance room, both of which are a huge help with rehearsals.
Make a Gift by the End of the Year for a Tax Deduction! To receive a tax deduction in 2015, remember make your annual campaign gift by Dec. 31. • Gifts can be made online at www.harker.org/onlinegiving. • Mailed gifts should be postmarked by Dec. 31 and sent to Harker Advancement Office, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. • When you make a gift or pledge payment, you’ll receive a snazzy vinyl “HKR” (Harker) decal as a thank you.
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AlumniNews
By Debbie Cohen
Alumna Volunteers as Human Rights Advocate in Philippines A brief hiatus in San Jose afforded Stephanie Guo ’09 precious time to pause for reflection, after spending nearly a year working as a human rights advocate in the Philippines, helping to combat child sex trafficking and global slavery. In mid-September, the alumna and class agent returned to the U.S. from Manila, where she had been volunteering with International Justice Mission (IJM), the largest international human rights organization of its kind. She was preparing to head abroad again, to start a new life as a graduate student at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
Photo provided by Stephanie Guo ‘09
Still battling jet lag, she made room in her hectic schedule for a visit to Harker’s upper school. On a beautiful fall day, over a long lunch at the Edge’s French patio, she chatted with Harker Quarterly, reflecting back on her work in IJM’s Manila field office. “I had the privilege of working in the National Communications, Mobilization and Advocacy Department as the government relations and advocacy intern,” said Guo, explaining that IJM is based in Washington, D.C., with field offices all over the world. “IJM is dedicated to proving that justice for the poor is possible. In my office, our casework was focused on child sex trafficking, a global slavery epidemic fueled by poverty and exploitation. Manila is one of three offices in the Philippines dedicated to this work, and is also one of IJM's oldest offices, and has accomplished so much in the past 14 years,” she reported. Guo’s position normally requires a one-year commitment, although she had to leave the internship a couple months
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short due to her prior graduate school commitment. During her time with IJM, she had a variety of responsibilities. Many of her projects included advocacy work and facilitating government partnerships to improve post-rescue victim recovery and legal processes. The overall mission of IJM, said Guo, is to combat everyday violence, an injustice that ensures that the poor stay poor. This violence looks different in various contexts, she explained. “For the poor widow in Africa, this could manifest in land grabbing. For the impoverished father in India, this could look like bonded labor,” she said. In response to the massive problem of global poverty, and motivated by the biblical call to love the poor, IJM has staffed its field offices with interdisciplinary teams of law-
“In my office, our casework was focused on child sex trafficking, a global slavery epidemic fueled by poverty and exploitation.” – Stephanie Guo ’09
AlumniNews
yers, social workers, law enforcement professionals and community mobilizers, all experts in their respective fields and passionate about the cause. The ultimate goal is to leave the communities they serve with a transformed justice system, better equipped to do their own advocacy work. Guo said that she had friends who had worked with IJM in the past and knew it was something she wanted to pursue in between finishing college and going on to graduate school. She was one of the youngest interns in her office.
Photos provided by Stephanie Guo ‘09
One of her most memorable experiences was accompanying rescued girls saved from traffickers to shelters, assisting as they were set up with private social workers. “Having other girls present who
“Harker was one of the first venues through which I began to realize my passion for seeking global justice.” – Stephanie Guo ’09 had previously been rescued and successfully completed our program there to help out was really a game changer in getting these young girls to open up,” she recalled.
After graduate school, Guo hopes that her career will include working toward securing basic human rights. She credits Harker’s emphasis on global education and outreach for opening the door to her present interest in advocacy work. “Harker was one of the first venues through which I began to realize my passion for seeking global justice and I would be thrilled if more students would consider pursuing careers in this field,” she said.
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AlumniNews
By Debbie Cohen
Muslim-American Alumnus Receives Standing Ovation Following Talk at Upper School During his recent appearance as a guest speaker at Harker’s upper school, Al-Jazeera America’s “The Stream” co-host Wajahat Ali MS ’94 reflected on his time at Harker and engaged the packed audience with stories about his work and life as a Muslim-American. Born to Pakistani immigrant parents, Ali attended Harker from 1986 to 1994. He joked to an enthusiastic, receptive crowd about having lentil stains on his shirt, only speaking Urdu until the age of 5, and being “born and raised in ‘Fremont-istan,’ California.” The alumnus also spoke fondly about a favorite lower school teacher, Sue Peterson, whom he credits with helping to push him toward becoming the professional playwright, journalist and public speaker he is today.
Ali visited Harker at the request of senior Shay Lari-Hosain, editor-in-chief of Wingspan, the upper school’s long-form magazine. LariHosain, who introduced Ali at the assembly, had previously interviewed him for a Wingspan story about issues that Muslim-Americans face. That article got picked up by a leading English-language newspaper in Pakistan. Photos by Mark Kocina
“She had asked us to write a one-page story. I ended up writing 10 pages. She told me it was a great story and had me recite it in front of the entire class, and then again at a
talent show for older students,” recalled Ali, during the assembly held on the morning of Sept. 19 in the upper school gym. “That was the first time I realized I had power in my voice, because I shared my story.”
Following the introduction, Ali took the podium, discussing not only his days at Harker, but his time as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, and how that led to publishing his play “The – Wajahat Ali MS ’94 Domestic Crusaders” in New York. The play, which centers around a Muslim-American family coming together and dealing with their problems, was the first thing Ali had published. It broke box office records at Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York and received the 2011 Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theatre.
“Be the most authentic version of yourself.”
After a stint as a freelance correspondent at news organizations including CNN and the Wall Street Journal, Ali went on to become a co-host at Al-Jazeera, despite various struggles, even briefly being homeless and living in a shelter at the age of 30. Before that, as a young college student, he experienced his first real taste of bigotry after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Then a senior at UC Berkeley and the head of the university’s Muslim Student Association, he recalled how, in the post-9/11 climate, he was forced to become a 44
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AlumniNews “professional Muslim,” constantly defending his role of student leader and activist. “As a ‘professional Muslim,’ you have to be a walking Wikipedia article … an instant expert on Islam, Qur’an, Shari’a, Hamas, hummus, Fatah, fatwas, Iran [and] Salman Khan,” he said, jokingly, but nonetheless making a serious point.
“Blow up the checklist. … Be the most authentic version of yourself,” he advised the students in attendance. “If you fall, hope you have the courage to raise your hand out and have faith that someone will pick you up, and once you guys make it, which you will, my request for you is to reach out across the aisle and help that dude who might be seen as a problem.”
“That was the first time I realized I had power in my voice, because I shared my story.” – Wajahat Ali MS ’94
Ali received a standing ovation after concluding his talk by stressing the far-reaching importance of storytelling among minorities, especially youth. His own future plans include continuing to tell his stories with a possible book project in the works. “I loved how Wajahat Ali was able to connect with the students. His stories were funny, relatable, and carried a deeper message. I have never in my seven years at Harker seen so many students walk out of an assembly smiling and inspired. I was surprised that he spoke more about his life story than discrimination per se, but I think that it carried his message effectively,” observed Michael Zhao, grade 12. Lari-Hosain said he was thrilled that Ali’s visit was such a success and still generating continued conversation among
Photos by Mark Kocina
Throughout his address, he stressed the importance of being true to yourself, and not being pressured by the standard Silicon Valley “checklist” of success (what he called the “Holy Trinity”) to become a lawyer, doctor or engineer.
upper school students and faculty alike. (To read a story about Lari-Hosain’s outreach work in Pakistan: http://news.harker.org/ grade-12-student-spends-summers-performing-outreach-work-inpakistan/.) “He was an inspiring figure,” said Elisabeth Siegel, grade 12, “navigating through hurdles and setbacks left and right. He gave the audience a much-needed perspective, especially in the current political climate of the world, of what life was like growing up Muslim in America, a religious minority group that went from being the object of ignorance of a majority of Americans pre-2001 to the religious minority considered by a good portion of Americans to be a demographic threat.” After the assembly Ali participated in an informal question and answer session with about 40 students in the journalism room. He then took part in a diversity discussion in math teacher Lola Muldrew’s classroom. “Allow yourself the space to fail. Make up your own checklist,” Ali reiterated during those subsequent discussions.
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AlumniNews Alumni Office Sends College Care Packages to Recent Grads By Debbie Cohen In mid-November more than 50 parents of Harker alumni of the classes of 2014 and 2015 assisted the alumni office with the beloved annual tradition of assembling college care packages for recent graduates. This was the first year that two classes were slated to receive the gifts, which were mailed after Thanksgiving and arrived in the alums’ mailboxes during the first week of December. “We are very excited to be including the Class of 2014 in our 2015 college care packages. They will be the first class to receive packages in their sophomore year. If well received, we will continue through their fourth year in college!” explained Karri Baker ’84, director of alumni relations.
Photos by Mark Kocina
Each 2015 care package included a college care booklet with well wishes from teachers, a bookmark listing the “Top 10 Things to Do in Your College Library” from the librarians, the last two copies of the Winged Post, a Harker alumni flashlight and a variety of snacks.
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Each 2014 care package included a card from the alumni relations office and alumni parents, the last two copies of the Winged Post, a Harker water bottle, alumni ear buds and a variety of snacks.
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AlumniNews Alums Go Head to Head At UCLA-UCSB Soccer Game
The packages were assembled with love in the hopes that the alumni will stay in touch, Baker said. “We want the alums to know that they are part of the Harker family and are always welcome to visit the campus and update us on what they are doing!” she said.
Photo provided by Joe Rosenthal
Photo
On Sept. 21 the Harker alumni relations office hosted a pregame reception and provided tickets for Harker alumni and their families to attend a soccer match between the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The game took place at UCLA's Drake Stadium and featured Harker alumni Michael Amick '13 (UCLA) and Andy Perez '13 (UCSB). The crowd included more than a dozen other alumni, as well as several Harker staff and faculty members. UCSB won the game 4-2, although all members of the Harker community in attendance felt as though they were winners for being able to unite for this fun evening!
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Save the Date: Annual Golf Tournament and Reception on April 11
Stay Connected Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
In eager anticipation of Harker’s upcoming Golf Classic – a beloved annual tradition now hosted by the alumni office – the planning committee met to discuss details of the 2016 tournament and reception. Here they are pictured hard at work on plans for the day-into-evening event, to be held at the Stanford University Golf Course on April 11. “We plan to reconvene in January to formalize the details of the event,” noted Karri Sakai Baker ’84, director of alumni relations. “Stay tuned!”
Connect with alumni through Facebook and LinkedIn as your new social and professional lives ramp up. We’d love to hear from you! http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Harker-Alumni166447 (or go to LinkedIn and search for Harker alumni) https://www.facebook.com/HarkerAlumniAssociation (or – you guessed it! – search for Harker Alumni Association while logged in to your Facebook account) We have partnered with EverTrue, an app that puts Harker’s alumni network right at your fingertips! Discover what your classmates are up to, find jobs and reconnect with old friends. Download the app, available for iPhone and Android, at http://web. evertrue.com/network/harker. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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AlumniNews
By Debbie Cohen
Annual Festival and Homecoming Events Draw Alumni Back to the Harker Community
Photo by Mark Kocina
Many alumni welcome the opportunity to reconnect with one another and the larger Harker community during two annual fall events – the Harker Harvest Festival and Homecoming.
Photo by Bill Cracraft
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
At the beginning of October, Harker’s Homecoming game was held on the upper school’s Davis Field, where a group of alumni gathered for a familyfriendly tailgate party. They enjoyed an informal dinner and had fun mingling with faculty and staff while watching the Eagles’ winning game, in which the varsity football team defeated Santa Cruz High School, 23-13. Then in mid-October, alumni returned for the Harker Harvest Festival, the school’s 65th annual Family & Alumni Picnic. More than 200 alumni attended the daylong event, held on the middle school campus. During the picnic there was a special area reserved just for alumni, featuring a delicious barbecue.
Photo by Mark Kocina
Harker faculty and staff worked the festival booths, making sure a great time was had by all. “It’s always fun to see all the teachers behind the booths,” observed Amy Wardenburg ’13, who said she also enjoys returning to see old friends.
Photo by Nicole DeVelbiss
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Photo by Bill Cracraft
Submitted by Class Agents
ClassNotes
Alumni from all classes through 1997 are listed under the years they would have completed grade 8 at The Harker School, Harker Academy, Harker Day School or Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA). For all classes after the Class of 1997, alumni are listed under the class years they would have graduated from high school, regardless of whether they completed high school studies at Harker. For unlisted classes, we invite you to email alumni@harker.org if you are interested in becoming a class agent or would like to nominate a classmate.
1965
We are saddened to announce that retired Harker employee and alumnus Dan Gelineau passed away in his Photo provided by Mark Gelineau ‘09 home recently. Memorial services were held in November. To read the obituary, go to the Passages section on page 33.
1979
Class Agent: Chip Zecher (chipzecher@hotmail.com) Louis Lai came by for lunch with Harker alumni and advancement staff to talk about old times and current happenings. Louis lives in the East Bay and has fond memories of more than 10 years spent at Harker as both a student and camp counselor.
1972
Class Agent: Stephen Worsley (saworsley@hotmail.com)
1984 Class Agents: Karri Baker (karribaker@me.com); Jeff Rogers (jeff@viviansdad.com) Kristin Quintin (kristinq1030@yahoo.com) Karri (Sakai) Baker, Kristin (Marlow) Quintin and Elise (Tremba) Robichaud reconnected during a Halloween party held at the Willow Glen home of current Harker parents Fabio Marino and Robin Feinman-Marino (Sofia Marino, grade 3). A spooktacular time was had by all!
Photo provided by Karri Baker ‘84
1973
Class Agent: Alan Stevens (alanclassreunion@earthlink.net)
1976
Class Agents: Joy Aliason Younes (joycyounes@yahoo.com); Cindy Cottrell DeAngelo (cldeangelo@yahoo.com)
1977
Class Agent: Mike Pons (michael.pons@gmail.com)
1978
Class Agent: Silvia Malaccorto (smalaccorto@contoural.com)
1980
Class Agents: Greg Argendeli (slackmaster@gmail.com) Lisa Sharon Morel (lisa.morel@gmail.com)
1981
Class Agent: Kristin (Scarpace) Giammona (kristing@harker.org)
1982 Class Agents: Tina (Johnson) Murray (tinammurray@earthlink.net); Pauline (de Vos) Aasen (thedutchfox@gmail.com); Keil Albert (kaalbert@geo-consultants.com)
Photo provided by Karri Baker ‘84
Kristin also reconnected with Matthew Douglas. “While traveling to England on a business trip this past September, we were able to schedule a day to visit in his hometown, Farmham. His wife and daughter prepared the most lovely lunch and then we all went out sightseeing,” she shared. “Matt and I connected on Facebook through the alumni site. I was excited to reach out to him. After 31 years, we were able to not just chat on Facebook but to have a
wonderful face-to-face visit with my husband and his family. Priceless!”
Photo provided by Kristin Quintin ‘84
1985 Last year in Harker Quarterly we ran a feature story about Judge John Owens’ appointment to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the nation’s largest appeals court, which shapes federal law from districts in California and eight other Western states. On Dec. 2, he returned to Harker’s lower school to visit with the third graders to talk about his life as a judge. Photo by Mark Kocina Our alumni love to hear how their classmates are doing, so starting with the spring 2016 issue of Harker Quarterly, some Class Notes submissions will be shared on the Harker Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels. Some news is so much fun, we won’t wait for Harker Quarterly but will publish it online when we get it, then run it in the Quarterly’s Class Notes; other times we’ll wait and publish a complete class year’s notes after the magazine is out. If you prefer not to have your Class Notes submissions shared in social media, please just drop us a line at news@harker.org. – Karri Sakai Baker ’84, Director of Alumni Relations
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ClassNotes 1987 Class Agent: Michelle Nguyen (Kernsting@yahoo.com)
1993
1988 Class Agents: Eric Xanthopoulos (eric.xanthopoulos@gmail.com); Aileen Eveleth (a_eveleth@yahoo.com)
1989 Class Agent: Katie Wilson (mkate_wilson@yahoo.com)
Class Agents: Jennifer Cady Logan (skinbyjennifer@gmail.com) Chris Yamashita (iamtheyamo@yahoo.com)
1991 Class Agent: Ashley Anderson (anderbruin@gmail.com)
1992 Class Agent: Amanda Mathias Bonomi (amandambonomi@gmail.com) Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, recently ran into Ravi Kapur and his mother. Ravi shared that he just got married and owns TV stations in San Jose, Chicago and North Dakota. Ravi also offered to serve as an alumni mentor to a current Harker student.
Photo provided by Joe Rosenthal
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Class Agents: Joy Paterson (joypaterson@gmail.com); Tala Banato (tala.banato@gmail.com); Kelle Sloan Saunders kellessanders@gmail.com Josh Crook had a baby. Please see the Celebrations section for details.
1994
1990
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Toku Chen had a baby. Please see the Celebrations section for details.
Class Agent: Leyna Cotran (leynacotran@gmail.com)
a son, Theodore (Theo), born Oct. 7, 2013, and a daughter, Camille, born Aug. 26 of this year.
1996 Class Agents: Andrea Miles (andreamil3s@gmail.com); Ann Chu (annwchu@gmail.com) Frank Lee got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.
1997 Class Agent: Lindsey Hochrine (lynn.laka@fireskyresort.com)
2002 1995 Class Agent: Lisa (Bowman) Gassmann (lisagassmann@gmail.com) Lisa Kai Klosterman is an orthodontist living with her family in Austin, Texas. Lisa is one of six Kai children who graduated from Harker.
Photo provided by Lisa Klosterman '95
Following Harker, she went on to Exeter for high school, Santa Clara University for undergraduate, University of Pacific Dental School in San Francisco, and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for orthodontic residency. She is married to Kelby Klosterman, and they have
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Class Agents: Akhsar Kharebov (axarharebate@gmail.com); Yasmin Ali (yasminfali@gmail.com); Isabella Liu (isabella.a.liu@gmail.com) Samana Khan had a baby! Please see the Celebrations section for details. Jerry Chi is changing jobs from Google to Supercell, the developer behind the game Clash of Clans. He'll be doing marketing analysis and strategy work covering the Asian Pacific region. Still based in Tokyo, Jerry will be visiting the San Francisco office every few months. Sean Gabriel (MS '98) recently returned to the Bay Area after having spent much of 2015 abroad in Accra, Ghana, working with an organization called MEST, a combination tech entrepreneurship school
and startup incubator in the region that has recently expanded into Kenya and Nigeria. During Sean's stay in Accra, he came on board the incubator team as a tech fellow, mentoring resident startups. Sean has written about the experience at http://meltwater.org/scrumtips-from-west-africanincubator-mest/.
2003 Class Agents: Julia N. Gitis (juliag@gmail.com); Maheen Kaleem (maheenkaleem@ gmail. com) Peter Noonan got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.
2004 Class Agents: Jacinda A. Mein (mjacinda@gmail.com); Jessica C. Liu (jess.c.liu@gmail.com) Alfred See completed his undergraduate studies and medical school at Johns Hopkins, and is currently in neurosurgery residency at Harvard, with four years to go. Alfred is interviewing for fellowship spots in 2019-20. He is in touch with classmates Geetanjali Vajapey, Maggie Chen, Joycelin Tsai and Stephanie Chun. After med school he ran a marathon with Wesley Wu, followed by a cross-country drive. Alfred stopped by the alumni office to visit and says he has fond memories of cross country, his classmates and teachers.
ClassNotes Alfred has also stepped up to be an alumni mentor for students interested in neurosurgery, and last fall visited Anita Chetty’s grade 12 Human Anatomy and Physiology class to lead a workshop, using the school’s anatomy table to illustrate two recent stroke cases he had worked on.
Class Agents: Meghana Dhar (meghanadhar@gmail.com); Jeffrey Le (Jeff87@gmail.com); Casey Near (caseylane@gmail.com)
Greg Kastelman has served as director of concert booking and business development for Cadenza Artists. There he is responsible for directing agency-wide booking initiatives, talent scouting, developing strategic partnerships, initiating
Steve Boyle designed and directed a show called “Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection.” The epic, immersive show played on Oct.16-18 at History San Jose, a park full of historical buildings including an old hotel, bank, firehouse, a gorgeous light tower and old homes. Steve is a graduate of Harker’s Conservatory
program and has produced several other productions recently. For this unique experience, he divided the park up into three smaller mini-immersive zones: a 1907 World's Fair, the 1920s, and a Depressionera camp. The production had a very successful run. A fun side note, shared Steve, is that “Aseem Shukla ’07 was in the show!”
Jake Bongers, a fourth year Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles, was featured in both a video and local newspaper article discussing his role as the consulting guest curator of an exhibition on mummies now on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Jason Martin has been playing professional baseball for the past four years. He was just traded to the Joplin Blasters in Missouri, and is working toward a master’s degree in sports psychology at Fresno State. He is also coaching baseball at Clovis West High School. Jason married Nicole Duquette in October 2014.
at Groupon, where she participated in her first hackathon, winning first place locally and placing second and third globally in two different categories as voted by Groupon's technical panel. Her picture will be featured at Groupon's headquarters on the honor wall just outside of the CEO's office, honoring her as one of the company’s most dedicated employees. After graduating from Harker, Dominique Dabija earned her B.S. in bioengineering and M.S. in engineering from Stanford. She spent the next year doing research on medical devices, traveling throughout Japan and Europe, and working on a scuba diving boat around the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea in Australia. She is now attending Vanderbilt Medical School, so let her know if you ever find yourself in Nashville! Photo provided by Dominique Dabija '09
Class Agent: Erika N. Gudmundson (erika.gudmundson@ gmail.com)
Amanda Polzin got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.
Photo provided by Steve Boyle '06
2005
Class Agents: Cassie Kerkhoff (ckerkhoff@ucsd.edu); Audrey Kwong (audmusic@gmail.com)
2006
Photo by Mark Kocina
Emma Hawley is volunteering at the upper school, leading relaxation sessions as part of Harker’s wellness program. Emma spent a year living at an ashram in India and is now back in the Bay Area and delighted to be sharing her meditative skills. The weekly class is open to all upper school students.
2007
new programs for revenue generation developing and initiating branding and promotional strategies.
2008 Class Agents: Stephanie Syu (ssyu363@yahoo.com); Senan Ebrahim (sebrahim@fas.harvard.edu) Troy Townzen got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.
2009 Class Agents: Rachel Wang (rachel.serendipity@gmail.com); Stephanie Guo (stephanie.j.guo@gmail.com) Gloria Ye has been working
In the fall issue of Harker Quarterly, Harker Conservatory graduate DJ Blickenstaff showed off his acting chops in a Subway commercial. Now he’s added another notch to his acting belt: he will be in several episodes of a series called
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ClassNotes in preparation for a career in health care.
“The Colony,” which will begin airing in January on the USA network. He is playing a character named Vasquez. He also recently filmed another commercial, this one for AT&T.
2010 Class Agents: Kevin Fu (kf800@yahoo.com); Adrienne Wong (adriee@gmail.com)
Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer
2011 Class Agents: Rani Mukherjee (rani.mukherjee18@gmail.com); Hassaan Ebrahim (hassaan.e@gmail.com)
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2012 Class Agents: Will Chang (thewillchang@gmail.com); David Fang (david.fang75@gmail.com) Neel Salukhe, who plays football for the University of Washington Huskies,
Photo by Jesse Beals / www.Olympicphotogroup.com
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Class Agents: Kathir Sundarraj (13KathirS@alumni.harker.org); Nikhil Panu (13NikhilP@alumni.harker.org); Nicholas Chuang (13NicholasC@alumni. harker.org) Vladimir Feinberg has been awarded the George B. Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize at Princeton University! He also received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence while at Princeton. He is concentrating in computer science and is pursuing a certificate in statistics and machine learning; he’s also a member of the Princeton Association for Computing Machinery and plays club volleyball. This past summer Vladimir was a software engineering intern at Google.
Back in August, former upper school history teacher Ray Fowler, who retired at the end of last year, met up with Alison Rugar at Cornell. Mr. Fowler was riding his motorcycle coast to coast, and Alison was getting ready to help out with freshmen orientation before returning to her engineering and physics studies. She is on schedule to graduate in 2017.
Upper school math teacher Victor Adler recently visited with some Harker alumni attending Princeton University. Pictured here with him are Joy Li, Vladimir Feinberg and Sonia Hashim, as well as Kiran Vodrahalli ’11, Abhinav Khanna '12 and Avi Nayak '14.
Mav McNealy continues to make breaking golf news. Back in November the Stanford junior capped a sensational fall season by earning medalist honors for Photo provided by Maverick McNealy '13
Harker classmates Rani Mukherjee and Alice Loofbourrow are in school together once again, completing a one-year postbaccalaureate premedical program at Goucher College
The Class of 2011 will have its five-year reunion on Dec. 26! Likely topics include reminiscing about the good old days and talking about transitioning into “real” adulthood. Stay tuned for more information!
2013
the third time in four events at the Gifford Collegiate Championship.
Photo provided by Ray Fowler
Andy Fang, co-founder of the Palo Alto-based, on-demand food delivery startup DoorDash, shared the secrets to his success during a seminar hosted by the Asian American Parent Association on Oct. 15. Two days later he spoke at TEDxHarkerSchool, a student-run, kidonly event.
Some interesting work updates from various alumni: Shreya Nathan is working for an education startup in Buenos Aires until January. Christina Li is working for Scary Little Girls, a feminist matrifocal production/theatre company based in England. Howard Lio is having a great time working for Box in Mountain View. Ari Parige is freelancing as a filmmaker. And Daisy Mohrman had her first performance as a professional dancer with Sean Greene’s Shield Wall in Los Angeles.
was recently interviewed for the Huskies’ athletic newsletter as well as for an article that appeared in The Seattle Times. Neel is making a name for himself at the university as both a dedicated and talented football player, and a serious and respected student of microbiology.
Photo provided by Victor Adler
ClassNotes 2014
2015
Class Agents: Nithya Vemireddy (nithya.vemireddy@gmail.com) Adith Rengaramchandran (adithram@gmail.com) Connie Li (connieli32@gmail.com)
Class Agents: Katy Sanchez (ktlynnsanchez@gmail.com) Nikhil Reddy (reddnikhil@gmail.com) David Lin (david.lin210@gmail.com) Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari (jetongutierrez@gmail.com)
At the 62nd National Junior Classical League Convention, held at Trinity University in Texas, Maya Nandakumar received the Jessie Chambers NJCL Scholarship. A current Harker student, Elisabeth Siegel, grade 12, was part
of a multischool advanced competitive Certamen team that took third place. The achievement earned them nice mentions in Nuntius Californiensis, the official newsletter of the California Junior Classical League. Congrats to both women!
Alumni Celebrations This past September, Amanda Polzin '06 married Evan Sullivan after meeting more than six years ago while working at a summer camp for children with special needs. Their two families gathered in the Hudson Valley of New York to watch them tie the knot. On that day Amanda was especially grateful that Evan had the approval and she had the support of the girls who have been her best friends for 22 years. They are shown here, from left to right: Casey Blair, Casey Near, Amanda, Lauren Gutstein, Shivani Bhargava, and Mariah Bush (all '06)! On June 23, Samana Khan ’02 gave birth to son Ghazi Hussain! She and her family live in New York. In November, Troy Townzen ’08 got married in Hollister to
Peter Noonan ’03 was married on Oct. 17 on Tinsley Island, a private island on the delta in Stockton. “We had a four-day event: Thursday night pirate party, Friday water sports and rehearsal, Saturday ceremony and reception, and Sunday brunch!” recalled the bride, Trishalee Hardy. In attendance were MS ’92 grads Amanda Mathias Bonomi, Nikki Noonan, Stacey Noonan and Liz Williams Itterly; Photo by Love Knot Photography Eugene Dvortsov ’02; and ’03 alumni Kari Saltzman Snell, Nicole Gaknoki, Kevin Hartsoch, Tommy Busch and Chris Davis. Josh Crook ’93 and his wife, Amanda, (a Harker preschool teacher) added another member to their family: Caliber Warren Robert Crook, who was born on Oct. 6, weighing, 7 lbs. 3 oz. Photo provided by Toku Chen '92
Amira DeSourdis, in a lovely ceremony surrounded by friends and family. Amira is Harker’s lower school assistant director of the BEST program and Troy is the grade 1-3 BEST coordinator.
Photo provided by Amira DeSourdis
Photo provided by Samana Khan '02
Former boarding student Frank Lee ’96 got married to Gloria Li on June 15 in Hong Kong.
Photo provided by Frank Lee '96
Photo provided by Casey Near '06
Please join us in congratulating the following alumni:
Photo provided by Josh Crook '93
Toku Chen ’92 and his wife, Candy, welcomed baby Kiran into the world on July 29 in Hong Kong. “His first name means 'ray of light' in Sanskrit,” shared Toku.
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LookingAhead Coming Attractions Student Directed Showcase Middle and Upper School Winter Concert
Jan. 8-9
January 12, 21, 26
Jan. 15
Grade 5 Show
Jan. 28-29
Upper School Dance Production
Jan. 29-30
Middle School Dance Jamz
ADMISSION EVENTS
March 11-12
United Voices
March 17
An Evening of Jazz
March 18
Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation and America
January 14, 22, 28 Special morning tours for our prospective parents to visit our kindergarten and preschool classes and see the schools in action.
Preschool Open House Sun., Jan. 9 | (Ages 3-5) FFri., Jan. 15 | Middle School
RSVP Today! www.harker.org
Tickets on Sale in January!
Dennis McNally, Author and Historian
Thurs., Jan. 14 | 7 p.m. RSVP required: communications@harker.org
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D. Creating a Meaningful Life: ife: The Science of Happiness
Wed., Feb. 3 | 9 a.m. | Blackford Theater 54
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WINTER 2015
Fri., Feb. 26, 2016 Levi’s Stadium
LookingAhead Concert Series 2015-16 Sat., April 9 | 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saratoga Campus Fri., Feb. 19, 2016 | 8 p.m.
Fri., March 11, 2016 | 8 p.m.
Jessica Lee, violin
Aeolus Quartet
$25 per concert Nichols Hall Auditorium Upper School Campus | 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose Pre-event reception one hour prior to each performance. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks included. Cash bar for wine and beer.
Tickets: www.harker.org/concerts
Mon., April 11 | Stanford University
Other Programs
• Swim School • English Language Institute
Preschool-12! Preschool Ages 3-5 5
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For-credit and enrichment courses.
June 13-July 29 (Multiple Se ssions)
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summer.harker.org
campinfo@harker.org | San Jose | 408.553.5737
Harker Quarterly (USPS 023-761) is published four times per year (September, December, March and June) by The Harker School, Office of Communication, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Jose, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Harker Quarterly, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.
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1987-1988
Harker Academy
Photo courtesy of the Harker Archives
T
he plaid jumpers have been replaced by navy blue, and the loose stack of books by zippered binders, backpacks and computers, but the smiles of happy students are still the same! One of the nicest things about Harker campuses is the bonding that goes on between the students. At a recent
upper school Harker Live! event, students who started in middle and upper school told visiting parents how welcomed they felt at Harker. We see firsthand, every day, students socializing in a dozen ways (just check our Instagram page at harkerschool!) between classes, at lunch, at after-school events and on the various class and club trips. Our community got its start back in 1893, grew with gusto through the last century, and is stronger than ever now, well into the 21st century!
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